DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE 

BUREAU  OF  FOREIGN  AND  DOMESTIC  COMMERCE 

ROY  S.  MACELWEE,  Director 


SPECIAL  CONSULAR  REPORTS— No.  82 


ERITREA 


A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY  OF  INCREASING 
INTEREST  TO  AMERICAN  COMMERCE 


By 


ADDISON  E.  SOUTHARD 

American  Consul  at  Aden,  Arabia 


PRICE,  10  CENTS 

Sold  by  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Government  Printing  Office 
Washington,  D.  C. 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1920 


CONTENTS 


Letter  of  submittal _ 

Map _ 

Introduction _ 

Factors  in  development  of  Eritrean  commercial  importance. 

A  possible  challenge  to  the  supremacy  of  Aden _ 

Italian  trade  influence  predominates _ 

American  goods  favorably  known  in  Eritrea _ 

Extent  of  Eritrean  market _ 

Location  and  area  of  Eritrea _ 

Topography,  climate,  and  rainfall _ 

Character  of  population _ 

Governmental  organization _ 

Education  and  language _ _ _ 

Scope  of  this  publication _ 

Trading  centers _ _ _ 

Massaua _ 

Assab _ 

Asmara _ 

Keren _ 

Agordat _ 

Adi  Caieh _ 

Adi  Ugri  and  Barentu - 

Less  important  trading  centers _ 9 - 

Agriculture  and  other  industries _ 

Sisal-hemp  growing _ 

Cotton  growing - - - 

Grains _ • _ 

Other  agricultural  products - 

Stock  raising _ 

Combating  animal  diseases _ 

Hides  and  skins _ 

Meat  packing - 

Flour  milling - 

Mining  industry - 

Potash  mining - 

Forest  products _ 

A  possible  source  of  rubber - 

Gum  arabic - 

Dom  nuts _ 

Beeswax - 

Salt  manufacture - 

Mother-of-pearl  and  other  shells - 

Fish  packing - 

Summary  of  Eritrean  industries - 

Transportation  facilities - 

Railroads _ 

Motor  and  wagon  roads - 

Caravan  routes _ 

Water  transportation - 

Finance  and  banking—' - 

The  new  Italian  trade  dollar - 

Importance  of  Austrian  trade  dollar - 

Italian  trade  dollar  in  place  of  Austrian  dollar - 1 - 

Design  of  new  Italian  trade  dollar - 

Italian  and  Austrian  trade  dollars  compared - 

Weight,  size,  and  value  of  the  two  dollars - . - 


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CONTENTS 


Finance  and  banking — Continued. 

Important  influence  on  Italian  prestige - 

Banks _ 

Government  revenue _ _ _ 

Investments _ 

Land  titles  and  values _ 

Postal,  telegraph,  and  telephone  service _ 

Telegraphs _ — 

Telephones _ _ 

Patents,  trade-marks,  weights,  and  measures - 

Market  for  manufactured  goods _ 

Unbleached  cotton  piece  goods _ 

Prices  and  brands  of  unbleached  cottons _ 

Opportunity  for  American  unbleached  cottons _ 

Styles  of  cotton  clothing _ 

Bleached  cotton  textiles _ 

Colored,  printed,  or  dyed  cotton  goods _ 

Cotton  shawls  and  yarns _ 

Kerosene  and  gasoline _ _ ^ 

General  hardware _ _ 

Enameled  ironware _ 

Iron  and  steel  sheets,  bars,  and  rods - 

Hurricane  lanterns _ ! _ 

Miscellaneous  hardware  items _ 

Sewing  machines _ _ _ 

Factory  and  other  industrial  machinery _ 

Laundry  and  toilet  soaps - 

Other  manufactured  goods _ 

Products  of  Eritrean  manufacture _ 

Bulk  foodstuffs _ 

Import  trade _ 

Inland  trade  routes _ _ _ _ _ 

Maritime  import  figures _ * _ : _ 

Land  trade  import  figures _ _ _ _ _ 

Origin  of  Eritrean  imports _ 

Export  trade _ • _ _ _ 

Land  trade  export  figures _ 

Destination  of  exports  by  sea  from  Eritrea _ 

Factors  influencing  foreign  trade _ _ _ 

Advantages  of  free  trade  are  lacking _ : _ _ _ 

Tariff  in  favor  of  Italian  goods _ 

Free  trade  would  help  Massaua _ 

Advantages  of  Massaua  as  a  port _ 

Port  and  other  shipping  charges  at  Massaua  -  _ 

Shipping  connections _ 

Effect  of  war  on  Eritrean  commerce _ 

Superior  inland  transport  facilities-. _ ; _ 

Important  influence  on  Abyssinian  trade _ 

Accessibility  of  Eritrean  market _ 

Close  relations  with  Egypt _ 

Best  method  of  entering  market _ _ 

Packing  goods  for  Eritrean  market _ _ 

Marking  and  weights  and  measures _ • _ I _ 

Customs  requirements  and  duties _ 

Prices  quoted  in  lire _ 

Commercial  credits  and  advertising _ 

Distribution  of  goods _ 

Conclusion _ 


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LETTER  OF  SUBMITTAL. 


Department  of  Commerce, 

Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 

W  ashing  ton,  August  31,  1920. 

Sir  :  Submitted  herewith  is  a  report  by  Addison  E.  Southard. 
American  consul  at  Aden,  Arabia,  on  the  commercial  status  of  the 
Italian  Bed  Sea  colony  of  Eritrea,  prepared  with  special  reference 
to  the  development  of  American  trade.  The  report  is  based  on  obser¬ 
vations  made  by  Mr.  Southard  during-  his  three  and  one-half  years' 
service  as  consul  at  Aden,  supplemented  by  a  personal  visit  to  all  im¬ 
portant  trading  centers  of  Eritrea. 

The  Bureau  published  in  1918,  as  Special  Consular  Series  No.  81,  a 
similar  report  by  Consul  Southard  on  the  commercial  status  of  Abys¬ 
sinia. 


Respectfully, 


R.  S.  MacElwee, 


Director. 


To  Hon.  J.  W.  Alexander, 

Secretary  of  C omrnerce. 


5 


XH  l-tf  °+1 


6 


Xti  1H _ °J2_ 


ERITREA: 


A  Red  Sea  Italian  Colony  of  Increasing  Interest  to 
American  Commerce. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  Italian  colony  of  Eritrea  has  recently  become  an  important 
factor  in  Red  Sea  trade,  and  its  promising  future  in  the  commerce 
of  this  district  gives  a  definite  and  timely  interest  to  a  discussion  of 
its  possibilities  both  as  an  import  and  as  an  export  market.  Indi¬ 
cations  are  that  the  Eritrean  port  of  Massaua  will  be  the  principal 
port  for  the  rich  trade  of  northern  Abyssinia  and  the  entrepot  for  an 
important  trade  with  the  Arabian  Red  district.  A  great  deal  about 
Eritrea  has  been  written  and  published  in  the  Italian  language,  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  there  has  been  any  reasonably  comprehensive 
discussion  in  English  of  the  commercial  possibilities  of  the  colony. 
This  report  is  based  upon  personal  investigations  conducted  by  the 
Aden  consulate,  supplemented  by  statistical  and  other  data  made 
available  by  the  progressive  Government  of  Eritrea. 

Eritrea’s  position  in  Red  Sea  trade  has  been  overshadowed  by  the 
earlier  commercial  recognition  of  the  territories  of  Sudan,  Abys¬ 
sinia,  and  French  Somaliland,  which  surround  it  on  the  land  sides, 
and  of  the  leading  Red  Sea  port  of  Aden.  It  has  therefore  re¬ 
mained  in  an  obscurity  which  kept  it  from  the  direct  notice  of  world 
commercial  influences  that  would  have  done  much  to  develop  its 
economic  possibilities. 

Fortunately,  the  enterprising  and  energetic  Italian  officials  of  the 
colony  have  had  faith  in  its  ultimate  importance  as  a  factor  in 
Red  Sea  commerce,  and  have  succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  sixfold 
increase  in  the  total  annual  value  of  the  colony’s  trade  during  the 
comparatively  short  period  of  10  years  ending  with  1918.  This 
remarkable  result  has  lifted  Eritrea  from  commercial  obscurity,  and 
demands  for  the  colony  the  attention  and  interest  of  world  traders, 
and  particularly  of  those  who  are  interested  in  Red  Sea  trade. 

Taken  alone,  Eritrea  has  comparatively  few  possibilities  of  great 
importance  to  world  trade,  but  as  a  base  for  northern  Abyssinian 
and  Red  Sea  Arabian  coast  trade  it  has  decidedly  important  possi¬ 
bilities. 

FACTORS  IN  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ERITREAN  COMMERCIAL  IMPORTANCE. 

A  leading  factor  in  the  development  of  Eritrea  has  naturally  been 
the  port  of  Massaua,  which  has  been  improved  to  an  extent  that 
makes  it  considerably  the  best  port  on  the  approximately  3,000  miles 
of  African  coast  line  between  Port  Sudan  and  Mombasa.  The  ex- 

7 


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ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


tension  of  the  fertile  Abyssinian  plateau  into  Eritrea  is  within  less 
than  40  miles  of  the  sea  in  the  latitude  of  Massaua,  and  a  railroad 
extends  across  the  narrow  desert  coastal  plain  from  Massaua  and  up 
to  the  plateau. 

From  the  plateau  railhead  at  Asmara  a  number  of  well-made  roads 
reach  out  to  interior  trading  centers,  and  those  extending  south 
meet  the  Abyssinian  caravan  routes  at  the  frontier.  The  extension 
of  these  roads  into  Abyssinian  territory  is  the  next  logical  step  in 
the  development  of  the  Abyssinian  trade,  which  is  so  important  to 
Eritrea,  and  plans  are  already  being  considered  for  this  work  of 
extension.  For  the  Arabian  coast  trade,  which  has  only  to  cross 
the  comparatively  narrow  Red  Sea,  warehouses  for  goods  in  transit 
have  been  built  at  Massaua  and  Government  officials  pursue  a  policy 
distinctly  meant  to  encourage  visits  to  that  port  by  Arab  trading 
dhows. 


A  POSSIBLE  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  SUPREMACY  OF  ADEN. 

Cheap  water,  nominal  port  and  pilot  dues,  and  superior  cargo¬ 
handling  facilities  are  attracting  foreign  shipping  to  Massaua  to 
carry  away  the  products  collected  from  northern  Abyssinia  and  the 
Arabian  coast,  and  to  bring  manufactured  goods  to  be  distributed  to 
these  districts  through  Massaua.  The  principal  and  only  important 
difficulty  for  shipping  at  Massaua  is  the  absence  of  adequate  coal 
stocks  such  as  are  available  at  Aden  and  Port  Sudan.  Facilities  for 
shipping  at  Massaua  have  improved  sufficiently,  however,  to  permit 
the  carrying  on  directly  of  much  import  and  export  trade  that  would 
ordinarily  be  done  through  Aden.  Massaua  is  and  will  continue  at 
a  disadvantage  in  not  being  a  free  port,  but  that  handicap  in  the 
development  of  the  trade  of  the  port  has  been  met  to  some  extent 
by  the  recent  construction  of  commodious  warehouses  for  merchan¬ 
dise  in  transit,  in  connection  with  which  there  is  only  a  nominal 
charge  per  package  for  long  storage. 

A  few  years  ago  Aden  alone  needed  to  be  considered  by  com¬ 
mercial  firms  interested  in  Red  Sea  trade,  but  Massaua  has  now 
developed  to  the  stage  that  it  must  also  be  considered  by  any  firm 
desiring  to  enter  properly  into  either  the  import  or  export  trade 
of  the  district.  This  is  due  not  only  to  the  distinct  port  improve¬ 
ments  and  decided  encouragement  of  trade  at  Massaua,  but  also  to 
the  delayed  improvement  of  shipping  facilities  at  the  port  of  Aden, 
which,  owing  to  its  strategic  location,  has  long  been  the  natural  trad¬ 
ing  center  for  all  Red  Sea  territories. 

ITALIAN  TRADE  INFLUENCE  PREDOMINATES. 

Owing  to  preferential  customs  duties  and  for  other  obvious  reasons. 
Italy  predominates  in  the  trade  of  Eritrea.  In  1917,  which  may  be 
taken  as  an  average  year  for  the  purpose,  nearly  60  per  cent  of  the 
entire  trade  of  the  colony  wTas  with  the  mother  country.  There  is 
also  a  feeling  on  the  part  of  Italian  firms  established  in  the  colony 
that,  since  Eritrean  commercial  importance  has  developed  almost 
entirely  through  the  efforts  of  themselves  and  their  own  Government, 
the  benefit  of  its  continued  development  should  be  decidedly  for 
the  advantage  of  Italian  commerce.  On  the  other  hand,  they  realize 


ERITREA.*  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


9 


that  there  are  many  lines  of  manufactured  goods  which  can  at  times 
be  more  advantageously  obtained  in  other  national  markets,  such, 
for  instance,  as  kerosene  and  unbleached  cotton  sheetings,  in  which 
a  distinct  advantage  in  Red  Sea  trade  has  long  been  enjoyed  by 
American  products.  Also  the  American  market  is  one  in  which 
superior  prices  are  often  obtained  for  Eritrean  hides,  skins,  and 
mother-of-pearl  shells,  considerable  quantities  of  which  reach  the 
United  States  by  direct  or  indirect  routes. 

The  majority  of  the  firms  established  in  the  colony  are  Italian,  but 
there  are  some  "British  Indian  and  Arab  merchants  who  do  a  consid¬ 
erable  business.  A  French  firm  with  large  and  important  trade  con¬ 
nections  in  the  Red  Sea  has  recently  opened  agencies  under  its  own 
direction  in  Eritrea  as  a  recognition  of  the  recently  developed  impor¬ 
tance  of  the  trade  of  that  colony. 

AMERICAN  GOODS  FAVORABLY  KNOWN  IN  ERITREA. 

Several  of  the  leading  firms  in  Eritrea  are  interested  in  American 
trade  connections,  and  there  is  promise  that  an  increasing  business 
will  be  done  with  the  United  States,  from  which  country  at  present 
there  are  coming  considerable  imports  of  cotton  piece  goods,  iron  and 
steel,  galvanized  iron  sheeting  or  roofing,  and  kerosene.  American 
soap,  builders’  hardware,  canned  fruits,  macaroni,  etc.,  are  part  of  the 
stock  in  trade  of  many  of  the  larger  retail  shops  in  Eritrea.  Italian 
sentiment  in  Eritrea  favors  American,  British,  and  French  goods,  in 
the  order  named,  for  such  needs  as  can  not  be  met  by  Italian  manu¬ 
facturers,  and  of  the  three  American  goods  at  present  appear  to  be 
best  established. 

United  States  firms  interested  in  the  Eritrean  market  could  dis¬ 
tribute  through  established  Italian  firms,  but  it  would  seem  more 
profitable  for  them  to  be  directly  represented  in  order  to  participate 
more  advantageously  in  the  export  trade  dealing  with  hides,  skins, 
and  mother-of-pearl  shells,  the  three  principal  products  which  go 
from  Massaua  to  United  States  markets. 

So  far  as  the  native  is  concerned,  he  is  very  much  under  Italian 
influence — Government  policy  having  been  designed  to  bring  that 
about — and  naturally  trusts  to  the  judgment  of  Italian  firms  in  the 
goods  offered  for  his  consumption,  whether  they  be  of  Italian,  Ameri¬ 
can,  or  other  national  manufacture.  The  one  exception  to  this  gen¬ 
eral  circumstance  is  American  unbleached  cotton  piece  goods,  which 
in  Eritrea,  as  elsewhere  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district,  are  dis¬ 
tinctly  favored  by  the  native  consumer  when  he  can  buy  them  at  not 
too  great  an  advance  over  prices  of  goods  from  other  sources. 

EXTENT  OF  ERITREAN  MARKET. 

First,  the  northern  Abyssinian  Provinces  and,  second,  the  Arabian 
Red  Sea  coast  ports  are  coming  to  rely  more  and  more  upon  Eritrean 
import  and  export  markets.  Eritrea  itself  has  but  90,000  square 
miles  of  area  and  less  than  a  third  of  a  million  people,  but  consider¬ 
ing  the  adjoining  Abyssinian  territory  and  neighboring  Arabian 
coastal  districts  served',  it  may  be  said  that  Eritrean  markets  are  an 
important  factor  in  serving  the  commercial  needs  of  possibly  5,000,000 
people.  Many  of  these  people  are  members  of  native  tribes  living  in 
11309°— 20 - 2 


10 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


comparatively  primitive  style,  but  at  present  they  are  enjoying;  more 
than  normal  prosperity,  owing  to  the  excellent  prices  received  for  the 
raw  products  that  they  have  to  sell.  Considering  the  probable  needs 
of  the  world  for  all  classes  of  raw  materials,  and  particularly  for 
hides  and  skins,  which  are  the  principal  products  of  the  Red  Sea  dis¬ 
trict,  it  may  reasonably  be  assumed  that  prices  will  continue  good 
and  thus  insure  to  the  native  tribes  served  by  Eritrean  markets  a 
relatively  large  purchasing  power. 

Conditions  which  govern  Eritrean  commerce  do  not  differ  ma¬ 
terially  from  those  throughout  the  Red  Sea  district,  with  which  some 
American  importers  and  exporters  are  already  reasonably  familiar. 
These  markets  can  support  a  considerably  increased  trade  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  American  business  can  and  should 
participate. 

LOCATION  AND  AREA  OF  ERITREA. 

The  founding  of  the  Italian  colony  of  Eritrea  was  suggested  by 
the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  its  bearing  upon  the  development 
of  Red  Sea  commerce.  A  pioneer  Italian  trading  company,  with  the 
encouragement  of  the  Italian  Government,  established  itself  in  1869 
at  Assab,  on  the  African  coast  almost  opposite  Mocha.  This  company 
ceded  its  rights  to  the  Government  in  1882,  and  from  the  Assab 
territory  there  rapidly  developed  by  treaty  and  conquest  a  colony 
including  what  had  been  Egyptian  and  Abyssinian  territory.  It  lies 
approximately  between  the  thirteenth  and  eighteenth  degrees  of 
north  latitude  and  the  thirty-sixth  and  forty-third  degrees  of  east 
longitude.  The  Red  Sea  coast  line  of  the  colony,  from  Ras  Casar  to 
Ras  Dumeira,  has  a  length  of  about  670  miles.  Sudan  territory 
bounds  the  colony  on  the  north  and  west,  Abyssinia  and  French 
Somaliland  bound  it  on  the  south,  and  the  Red  Sea  forms  its  eastern 
boundary.  Eritrea  is  a  triangular-shaped  territory.  Its  greatest 
depth  from  the  coast  inland,  at  the  fifteenth  degree  of  north  latitude, 
is  nearly  300  miles.  The  area  of  the  colony  is  about  90,000  square 
miles,  or  nearly  the  area  of  Italy  without  Sicily  and  Sardinia. 

TOPOGRAPHY,  CLIMATE,  AND  RAINFALL. 

The  vast  and  mountainous  plateau  of  Abyssinia  narrows  and  ex¬ 
tends  north  into  Eritrea,  descending  on  one  side  to  the  hot  and  desert 
Red  Sea  coastal  plain  and  on  the  other  to  the  Sudan.  This  plateau 
extends  almost  the  entire  length  of  Eritrea  and  is  the  most  habitable 
part  of  the  colony.  The  mean  altitude  of  the  plateau  is  about  7,500 
feet,  but  some  of  the  mountain  peaks  rise  to  more  than  9,000  feet  above 
sea  level. 

There  are  many  deep  valleys  or  canyons  cutting  the  plateau  which 
offer  diffculties  to  the  construction  of  transportation  highways,  but 
which,  on  the  other  hand,  provide  some  very  favorable  locations  for 
agricultural  enterprise. 

Eritea  has  no  navigable  rivers,  but  a  number  of  small  streams  rise 
in  the  plateau,  some  of  which  discharge  to  the  Red  Sea  and  some  run 
in  the  opposite  direction  to  the  Sudan.  The  largest  river  of  the  colony 
is  the  Settit,  which  rises  in  Abyssinia,  flows  north  and  then  west,  and 
for  some  distance  forms  the  Eritreo- Abyssinian  boundary.  It  then 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


11 


passes  into  the  Sudan  to  join  the  Atbara  or  Black  Nile.  The  Gash 
River  is  a  sizable  stream  that  rises  in  southern  Eritrea  and  continues 
its  course  into  the  Sudan,  where  it  disappears  in  the  desert  beyond 
Kassala,  an  important  trading  center.  The  Barca  River  also  rises 
in  southern  Eritrea  and  runs  northward  the  entire  length  of  the 
colony,  passing  into  the  Sudan  and  disappearing  in  the  desert  country 
near  Suakim.  These  three  streams  have  water  throughout  the  year 
in  greater  or  less  quantity  and  support  a  good  deal  of  vegetation. 
The  whole  central  and  southern  part  of  the  Eritrean  plateau  is,  how¬ 
ever,  well  watered  by  many  small  mountain  streams. 

On  some  parts  of  the  plateau  as  much  as  20  inches  of  rain  falls  dur¬ 
ing  the  rainy  season  from  May  to  October.  As  the  plateau  descends 
on  either  side  the  rainfall  decreases  and  on  the  Red  Sea  desert  littoral 
it  is  nowhere  greater  than  7  inches  per  annum,  and  is  usually  much 
less.  There  is  a  so-called  season  of  small  rains  in  April  and  May. 
The  big  rains  are  in  July  and  August. 

The  climate  of  the  Eritrean  plateau  is  very  agreeable  throughout 
the  year,  except  possibly  during  the  season  of  heavjr  rains.  In  the 
higher  plateau  the  temperature  ranges  from  50°  to  76°  F.  and  in  the 
desert  or  semidesert  lowlands  the  range  is  from  59°  to  95°  F.  in  gen¬ 
eral,  although  in  particular  places,  such  as  Massaua  and  Assab,  the 
two  Red  Sea  ports,  the  hot  season  on  occasions  has  a  temperature 
as  high  as  113°  F.  in  the  shade.  There  are  extremes  of  humidity 
and  dryness  both  in  the  lowlands  and  on  the  plateau.  On  the  plateau 
strong  winds  prevail,  and  they  are  decidedly  cool  during  the  winter 
season.  Light  woolen  clothing  may  be  and  is  comfortably  worn  by 
many  European  residents  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  on  the 
plateau.  Health  conditions  are  reasonably  good  in  all  parts  of  the 
colony. 

CHARACTER  OF  POPULATION. 

The  native  population  of  Eritrea  is  largely  nomadic  or  semino- 
madic,  only  the  Abyssinian  tribes  of  the  central  and  southern  Prov¬ 
inces  of  the  colony  living  to  any  extent  in  settled  villages.  The  popu¬ 
lation  is  estimated  at  330,000,  of  whom  about  3,000  are  Europeans  or 
Levantines.  About  one-half  of  the  population  is  made  up  of  nomadic 
Moslems  of  Semitic  extraction.  The  principal  Moslem  tribes  are 
the  Dankalis  (Somali  type)  and  the  Beni  Amr  (Arabic  type). 

Probably  a  third  of  the  total  population  professes  Coptic  Chris¬ 
tianity,  the  State  religion  of  Abyssinia,  to  which  country  most  of 
these  people  belonged  before  the  territory  that  they  inhabit  became 
a  part  of  Eritrea  as  the  result  of  conquest.  There  are  about  10,000 
Catholic  Christians,  missionary  converts,  and  considerably  smaller 
numbers  of  Protestants,  Greek  and  Russian  Catholics,  and  Israelites, 
in  the  order  named. 

Native  Eritreans  are  all  dark  skinned  and  many  are  black. 

The  population  as  a  whole  is  decidedly  mixed,  and  it  is  therefore 
not  easy  to  convey  accurately  in  a  few  words  an  idea  of  the  general 
social  state.  The  more  important  element  in  the  population,  which 
is  made  up  of  the  Abyssinians  of  the  central  and  southern  parts  of 
the  plateau,  has  the  feudal  organization  peculiar  to  Abyssinia.1  The 

i  See  “Abyssinia,”  by  Arldison  E.  Southard,  Special  Consular  Reports  No.  SI.  issued 
by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce.  Sold  by  the  Superintendent  of  Docu¬ 
ments,  Government  Printing  Office,  for  5  cents. 


12 


ERITREA :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


remainder  of  the  population  is  made  up  largely  of  pastoral  tribes 
who  wander  over  certain  districts  with  their  herds  and  flocks  and 
have  only  a  tribal  organization.  . 

All  creeds  and  religions  are  given  the  sympathetic  attention  of 
the  Government  officials,  and  the  policy  pursued  has  led  to  the  build¬ 
ing,  at  Government  expense,  of  churches  and  mosques  best  suited  to 
the ’ideas  of  the  various  tribal  or  religious  units. 

The  policy  of  the  colonial  Government  has  been  very  successful, 
and  Italian'  political  and  economic  influence  is  well  established. 
Traders  can  proceed  to  any  part  of  the  colony  in  safety  and  carry  on 
their  business  without  molestation.  There  is  no  political  division  in 
the  Red  Sea  district  where  organized  government  has  been  so  defi¬ 
nitely  established  and  is  more  appreciated  by  the  native  population. 
The  Eritrean  Government  has  been  criticized  as  unduly  paternal, 
but  its  success  may  be  ascribed  largely  to  that  very  circumstance  of 
paternalism. 

GOVERNMENTAL  ORGANIZATION. 

The  colony  is  under  the  Italian  Colonial  Office,  and  the  home  Gov¬ 
ernment  is  represented  by  a  governor,  whose  official  residence  is  at 
Asmara,  the  capital.  There  are  various  executive  officials  in  charge 
of  departments  of  public  safety,  finance,  civil  affairs,  customs,  posts 
and  telegraphs,  etc.  There  are  eight  provinces,  each  governed  by  a 
commissioner  who  exercises  wide  discretion  in  his  treatment  of  the 
natives  under  his  jurisdiction.  Usually  the  native  tribal  or  village 
organization  is  deferred  to  in  minor  matters  and  in  all  other  possible 
ways. 

Native  gendarmes,  officered  by  Italians,  maintain  peace  and  order, 
and  at  various  posts  throughout  the  colony  are  stationed  units  of  the 
Royal  Italian  Army,  the  enlisted  personnel  of  which  is  largely  native, 
representing  infantry,  engineers,  and  mountain  artillery. 

EDUCATION  AND  LANGUAGE. 

Education  is  encouraged,  and  there  are  three  Government  indus¬ 
trial  schools  in  the  colony  where  native  youths  are  taught  printing, 
telegraphy,  carpentry,  blacksmithing,  and  various  other  useful 
trades.  These  schools  are  well  attended  and  have  been  important 
factors  in  extending  Italian  influence  and  developing  respect  for 
civilized  institutions  among  the  natives.  There  are  several  mission 
schools,  and  it  may  be  said  that  an  elementary  education  is  available 
to  any  young  Eritrean  who  desires  it. 

There  are  15  languages  or  dialects  used  to  a  recognizable  extent  in 
the  colonv,  the  most  important  of  which  are,  in  the  order  named, 
Tigrean  (A1  yssinian),  Italian,  and  Arabic.  The  mixed  native  pop¬ 
ulation  of  Eritrea  seems  to  have  a  special  aptitude  in  learning  for¬ 
eign  languages,  and  Italian  is  making  splendid  progress.  Probably 
a  fifth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  country  has  a  working  knowl¬ 
edge  of  that  language,  and  its  use  is  increasing.  Arabic  and  Italian 
are  both  taught  in  the  Government  schools.  English  is  neither 
taught  nor  spoken  to  any  extent  in  Eritrea  by  either  the  native  or 
foreign  population. 


ERITREA  I  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


13 


SCOPE  OF  THIS  PUBLICATION. 

The  varying  exchange  value  of  the  Italian  lira,  the  currency  unit 
in  use  in  Eritrea,  made  it  seem  inadvisable  to  quote  local  jobbing  and 
retail  prices  in  the  following  pages  of  this  report.  Such  quotations 
as  could  be  made  would  perhaps  rule  only  for  a  few  weeks  and  then 
change  from  time  to  time  until  the  lira  returns  definitely  to  its  nor¬ 
mal  exchange  value.  Other  detailed  information  not  essential  to  a 
general  understanding  of  the  subject  has  also  been  omitted  in  order 
to  keep  the  report  within  a  length  suitable  to  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  written. 

American  business  men  who  have  or  who  may  develop  a  special 
interest  in  Eritrean  commerce  will  find  useful  information  relative 
to  some  of  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  following  pages,  and  the 
American  consulate  at  Aden  will  be  pleased  to  supply  fuller  infor¬ 
mation  in  reply  to  specific  inquiries. 

TRADING  CENTERS. 

At  practically  all  of  the  original  native  trading  centers  in  Eritrea 
the  colonial  Government  has  erected  permanent  buildings  with  Eu¬ 
ropean  facilities,  and  has  effected  other  improvements  which  are  an 
agreeable  surprise  to  the  traveler  accustomed  to  the  average  towns 
and  settlements  in  Red  Sea  territories.  In  many  instances  the  old 
caravan  trails  between  these  various  trading  centers  have  been  made 
into  roads  to  facilitate  trade  and  travel. 

Massaua,  located  a  little  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  way  down 
the  Red  Sea  from  Suez  to  Aden,  is  the  principal  port;  Assab  is  a 
much  less  important  port  located  on  the  African  Red  Sea  side  of  the 
Straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb.  The  more  important  interior  trading 
centers  are  Asmara,  the  capital ;  Keren,  in  the  northern  Province  of 
that  name;  Agordat,  in  Barca  Province,  which  is  an  important  sta¬ 
tion  in  the  trade  from  Asmara  to  the  Sudan  frontier  and  in  the  trade 
to  the  southwest  Province  of  Gash  and  Settit;  and  Adi  Caieh,  Adi 
Urgi,  and  Barentu,  each  on  an  important  trade  route  into  Abyssinia. 
All  of  these  places  are  considered  of  importance  to  any  commercial 
firm  interested  in  Eritreo-Abyssinian  trade. 

MASSAUA. 

Massaua  is  the  principal  port  of  Eritrea.  It  is  nearly  900  miles 
from  Suez  and  380  miles  from  Aden.  With  the  exception  of  Port 
Sudan,  there  is  no  port  on  the  Red  Sea  and  Gulf  of  Aden  having 
more  up-to-date  facilities  for  shipping.  On  the  north  front  of  the 
town  there  has  been  built  a  stone  quay  alongside  which  ocean-going 
vessels  may  come  for  loading  or  discharging  cargo.  The  railway  ex¬ 
tending  to  the  interior  has  tracks  along  the  quay.  There  are  also  on 
the  quay  three  steam  traveling  cranes  for  handling  cargo,  each 
capable  of  lifting  about  3  tons.  There  are  coaling  and  watering 
piers,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  harbor  is  an  electrically  op¬ 
erated  conveyor  for  loading  salt  into  steamers  while  lying  some  dis¬ 
tance  out  from  the  jetty.  Provisions,  meat,  and  other  supplies  for 
ships  are  usually  available  in  reasonable  quantities  and  are  com¬ 
paratively  cheap. 


14 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


The  old  Arab  town  of  Massaua  is  built  on  a  coral  island  and  is 
connected  with  a  second  island  closer  inshore  by  a  dike  suitable  for 
wheeled  traffic  and  over  which  the  railroad  runs,  and  this  in  turn  is 
connected  with  the  mainland  by  a  causeway  about  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  long.  A  sufficient  supply  of  coal  for  shipping  is  usually  not 
available,  although  when  conditions  are  more  favorable  it  will  doubt¬ 
less  be  possible  for  a  reasonable  number  of  ships  to  coal  at  Massaua. 
Coal  is  handled  by  lighters  and  coolie  labor  with  good  speed.  There 
are  ample  customs  warehouses  for  cargo  storage.  There  is  an  elec¬ 
tric-light  and  ice  plant  suitable  for  the  needs  of  the  port  and  a  post 
office  and  a  telegraph  station  from  which  messages  to  all  ports  of  the 
world  can  be  sent.  The  only  commercially  important  industry  is  a 
plant  for  the  manufacture  of  salt  by  evaporating  sea  water,  but  plans 
are  about  completed  for  the  construction  of  a  fish- packing  plant. 

The  climate  is  oppressively  hot  during  the  lat^  spring,  summer, 
and  early  fall  months.  Rainfall  is  infrequent  and  light. 

The  population  is  about  16,000,  consisting  of  Arabs,  Dankalis, 
Sudanese,  British  Indians,  Abyssinians,  and  other  Red  Sea  peoples. 
The  European  population  is  small,  as  most  of  the  European  business 
men  live  at  Asmara,  six  hours  distant  by  rail,  where  the  climate  is 
temperate.  Massaua  has  two  banks,  two  hotels,  and  several  shipping 
offices.  It  is  the  residence  of  the  commissioner  for  Massaua  Province. 
There  are  no  newspapers. 

ASSAB. 

The  port  of  Assab  is  located  on  Assab  Bay  near  the  southern  fron¬ 
tier  of  Eritrea.  It  is  the  capital  of  the  Province  of  the  same  name 
and  the  residence  of  a  commissioner.  The  present  commercial  im¬ 
portance  of  Assab  is  comparatively  small,  but  as  a  base  for  trade 
with  the  Arabian  coast,  from  which  it  is  distant  only  about  40  miles, 
and  as  a  base  from  which  to  open  either  a  rail  or  a  wagon  road  into 
the  rich  Wollo  Galla  Province  of  Abyssinia,  it  has  considerable  po¬ 
tential  value  for  the  development  of  commerce.  It  has  some  caravan 
trade  with  the  Dunkali  desert  hinterland.  The  port  of  Assab  has 
an  important  naval  wireless  station  and  a  prison  to  which  native 
convicts  from  Eritrea  and  other  Italian  African  colonies  are  sent.  A 
fish-packing  plant  and  an  installation  for  the  manufacture  of  salt 
from  sea  water  are  under  construction. 

The  Assab  climate  is  very  hot,  and  the  heat  combined  with  the 
barrenness  of  the  surrounding  country  makes  it  an  undesirable  place 
of  residence  for  Europeans.  There  is  no  hotel  for  Europeans.  The 
two  main  streets  are  broad  and  well  kept.  An  important  Catholic 
mission  is  established  at  Assab.  The  population  scarcely  exceeds 
2,000  and  practically  the  only  Europeans  are  the  Government  officials 
and  a  few  traders  whose  duties  require  them  to  reside  there.  Assab 
is  about  12  hours  by  steamers  from  either  Aden  or  Jibuti  and  24  hours 
from  Massaua.  Assab  was  the  original  Italian  settlement  in  the 
colonial  territory  now  known  as  Eritrea. 

/ 

ASMARA. 

Asmara  is  the  capital  of  the  colony  of  Eritrea.  It  is  built  on  the 
mountainous  plateau  back  from  the  coast  and  has  an  elevation  of 
7,200  feet  above  sea  level.  The  climate  as  a  rule  is  pleasantly  cool 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


15 


throughout  the  year,  and  many  of  the  Massaua  people  who  desire  a 
change  from  the  oppressive  heat  of  the  coast  reside  at  Asmara  during 
a  great  part  of  the  year.  Rainfall  is  fairly  heavy  during  the  summer 
months.  Light  woolen  clothing  can  be  worn  almost  throughout  the 
year.  On  a  straight  line  Asmara  is  only  about  35  miles  inland  from 
Massaua,  but  the  railroad  that  climbs  the  mountains  and  connects 
the  two  places  is  80  miles  long. 

Asmara  has  the  appearance  and  many  of  the  facilities  of  a  Euro¬ 
pean  town,  with  well-constructed  buildings,  banks,  shops,  hotels, 
cafes,  etc.  The  streets  are  broad  and  well  kept  and  carriages  ply 
for  public  hire.  There  is  an  electric-light  plant  and  a  good  water 
supply.  There  is  no  newspaper.  Modern  telephone,  telegraph,  and 
postal  services  are  available.  Asmara  is  the  residence  of  the  governor 
of  Eritrea.  There  is  only  one  consulate  in  Asmara,  that  of  Abys¬ 
sinia.  Neither  the  United  States  nor  any  of  the  European  Govern¬ 
ments  are  represented  by  consuls.  There  is  a  comfortable  cara¬ 
vansary  for  the  use  of  caravans  coming  in  from  outlying  trade  cen¬ 
ters  and  a  large  market  that  is  active  every  day  of  the  week.  The 
population  of  Asmara  is  about  11,000,  of  which  not  less  than  10  per 
cent  is  European  or  Levantine.  There  are  no  American  citizens  in 
Eritrea. 

KEREN. 

Keren  is  located  in  the  Eritrean  highlands  about  65  miles  north  of 
Asmara.  It  is  lower  than  Asmara,  being  only  4,500  feet  above  sea 
level,  and  has  a  somewhat  more  equable  climate.  A  good  motor  road 
connects  the  two  places,  and  a  railroad  now  under  construction  is 
expected  to  be  open  for  operation  by  the  end  of  1920. 

Keren  is  a  center  of  the  dom-nut  industry  and  exports  consider¬ 
able  quantities  of  both  the  nuts  and  the  finished  dom-nut  buttons.  It 
is  the  capital  and  residence  of  the  commissioner  for  Keren  Province. 
There  are  a  number  of  substantial  buildings,  including  the  Govern¬ 
ment  house,  industrial  school,  and  hotel.  A  military  post  adds  some¬ 
thing  to  the  importance  of  the  town.  ±Jost,  telephone,  and  telegraph 
services  are  available.  Keren’s  trade  is  principally  with  northern 
and  western  Eritrea.  When  the  railroad  is  extended  from  Keren  to 
Agordat,  the  latter  place  will  probably  take  away  a  great  deal  of 
Keren’s  commercial  importance.  The  population  is  about  7,500,  in¬ 
cluding  a  number  of  Europeans. 

AGORDAT. 

Agordat,  situated  about  50  miles  west  of  Keren,  is  the  capital  of 
Barca,  the  largest  of  the  eight  Provinces  into  which  Eritrea  is 
divided.  The  Kassala-Sabderat  caravan  route  from  the  Sudan,  the 
Gondar-Barentu  caravan  route  from  northwestern  Abyssinia,  and 
the  Barca  River  caravan  route  which  runs  north  and  south  for  the  en¬ 
tire  length  of  Barca  Province,  all  meet  at  Agordat  and  merge  into  the 
main  trade  highway  to  Asmara  via  Keren.  Agordat  is  40  miles  from 
Barentu  and  120  miles  from  Sabderat  on  the  Sudan-Eritrean  fron¬ 
tier.  It  is  2,500  feet  above  sea  level.  Being  the  meeting  place  of 
the  three  important  caravan  routes  indicated,  it  is  an  important 
trading  center,  and  is  on  probable  future  rail  lines,  one  of  which  will 
run  west  to  Kassala  and  the  other  south  to  the  Abyssinian  frontier. 


16 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


It  has  telephone,  telegraph,  and  postal  communication  with  other 
parts  of  Eritrea.  The  population  is  about  2,500,  mostly  Moslems, 
among  whom  there  are  a  considerable  number  of  Sudanese  negroes. 

Agordat  lies  near  the  headAvaters  of  the  Barca  River,  along  the 
course  of  which  grow  great  numbers  of  dom  palms,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  main  stations  for  the  important  dom-nut  industry,  which  centers 
at  Keren.  Motor  cars  can  with  little  difficulty  travel  from  Keren 
as  far  as  Agordat,  and  most  of  the  important  Eritrean  trading  com¬ 
panies  are  represented  there.  Agordat  is  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
main  Eritrean  plateau  and  is  at  such  a  low  level  that  there  is  oppres¬ 
sive  heat  during  a  part  of  the  year. 

ADI  CAIEH. 

Adi  Caieh  is  the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Acchele  Guzai  and  is 
the  residence  of  the  commissioner  and  a  military  post  of  importance. 
A  good  motor  road  covers  the  80  miles  from  Asmara  to  Adi  Caieh, 
and  the  farther  distance  to  the  Abyssinian  frontier,  also  by  motor 
road,  is  only  16  .miles.  Adi  Caieh  ranks  next  to  Asmara  as  an  in¬ 
land  trading  center  and  a  very  large  share  of  the  colony’s  trade  with 
Abyssinia  is  through  this  town.  Caravans  from  as  far  south  as 
Dessie  and  Macalle  in  Abyssinia  arrive  frequently  in  Adi  Caieh,  and 
there  is  a  daily  market  for  the  benefit  of  arriving  caravans. 

The  elevation  of  Adi  Caieh  is  7,500  feet,  being  greater  than  that  of 
Asmara,  and  it  is  only  21  miles  from  the  seacoast  at  Zula,  a  small 
port  on  the  gulf  of  the  same  name.  There  is  a  project  for  connecting 
this  important  trading  center,  from  which  there  is  an  abrupt  drop  to 
the  coastal  plain,  with  Zula  by  a  cableway  and  thus  facilitate  the 
transport  of  merchandise,  which  at  present  follows  the  roundabout 
way  to  the  sea  via  Asmara  and  Massaua.  Zula  is  near  the  site  of 
Adulis,  used  as  a  port  in  the  time  of  King  Solomon  for  the  ancient 
trade  activity  between  old  Abyssinia  and  the  Asiatic  coast.  Adi 
Caieh  has  postal,  telephone,  and  telegraph  connection.  Several  sub¬ 
stantial  buildings  have  been  constructed  by  the  Government  and  by 
merchants. 

The  climate  during  the  winter  is  uncomfortably  cool  for  those  who 
make  temporary  visits  up  from  the  lowlands.  The  permanent  popu¬ 
lation  is  about  2,000,  but  this  number  is  often  considerably  increased 
by  the  presence  of  traders.  Adi  Caieh  is  thought  to  have  a  greater 
immediate  future  than  any  other  of  the  inland  trading  centers  of 
Eritrea  except  Asmara. 

ADI  UGRI  AND  BARENTTT. 

These  two  places  are  the  capitals  of  the  Province  of  the  Serae 
and  the  Gash  and  Settit  Province,  respectively.  Adi  Ugri  is  the 
Eritrean  center  for  trade  with  Abyssinia  via  the  important  Adua 
route,  and  Barentu  is  the  Eritrean  market  for  the  rich  trade  district 
extending  up  from  Gondar  in  Abyssinia.  Both  towns  have  a  very 
favorable  future  in  the  development  of  the  plans  of  the  Eritrean 
Government  for  closer  trade  relations  with  the  respective  districts 
of  the  rich  Abyssinian  Province  of  Tigre,  with  which  they  are 
already  connected  by  caravan  routes. 


ERITREA!  A  FED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


17 


A  good  motor  road  connects  Adi  Ugri  with  Asmara,  only  40  miles 
distant,  but  Barentu  as  yet  has  only  caravan  connection  with  other 
parts  of  Eritrea,  the  trade  from  this  center  going  generally  north  to 
Agordat  and  thence  via  Keren  to  Asmara  and  Massaua.  The  Gash 
and  Settit  Province  is  one  of  the  richest  in  Eritrea,  but  much  of  it 
is  undeveloped  because  of  its  comparative  remoteness.  Barentu  is 
in  the  line  of  a  probable  future  railroad  extension  from  Agordat  to 
Gondar,  in  the  Lake  Tsana  district  of  Abyssinia. 

Adi  Ugri  has  an  elevation  of  6,000  feet  and  is  one  of  the  places 
of  heavy  rainfall.  Its  population  is  about  3,000.  There  is  telephone, 
telegraph,  and  postal  communication  with  other  parts  of  the  colony 
and  with  Abyssinia.  Barentu  has  an  elevation  of  about  3,600  feet. 
Its  population  is  a  little  more  than  1,000,  but  there  is  telephone,  tele¬ 
graph,  and  postal  communication  with  other  Eritrean  centers.  The 
commercial  future  of  both  places  is  considered  important. 

LESS  IMPORTANT  TRADING  CENTERS. 

Other  trading  centers  of  less  present  importance  are  Zula,  on  the 
gulf  of  the  same  name ;  Ghinda,  an  important  station  on  the  Massaua- 
Asmara  railroad,  where  is  located  a  Government  agricultural  experi¬ 
ment  station,  and  which  has  some  caravan  trade  with  the  territory 
extending  north  and  south  on  either  side  of  the  railway  in  the  zone 
between  the  plateau  and  the  coast;  Adi  Quala,  which  is  near  the 
frontier  on  the  route  between  Adi  Ugri  and  Adua ;  Senafe,  a  village 
of  probable  Arabic  origin  on  the  Adi  Caieh-Macalle  route;  Elaghim, 
on  the  Settit  River,  in  the  southwestern  corner  of  Eritrea ;  Sabderat, 
on  the  Sudan  frontier,  which  is  a  caravan  station  and  an  important 
telegraph  station  for  communication  between  Eritrea  and  Europe; 
and  Mersa  Fatimari,  on  the  Red  Sea  coast  back  of  the  Island  of  Baca, 
which  is  the  port  of  export  for  the  famous  potash  deposits,  about  60 
miles  inland.  With  the  exception  of  Sabderat,  which  is  under  the 
influence  of  the  Sudan  trading  center  of  Ivassala,  all  of  these  places 
are  at  present  important  only  to  Italian  or  Italo-Abyssinian  trade. 

AGRICULTURE  AND  OTHER  INDUSTRIES. 

As  in  Abyssinia,  the  principal  industries  of  Eritrea  are  agriculture 
and  stock  raising.  Owing  mainly  to  lack  of  water,  or  the  lack  of 
judicious  utilization  or  conservation  of  the  limited  water  supply  that 
is  available  in  large  areas  of  the  country,  stock  raising  is  the  more 
important  industry  and  provides  the  hides  and  skins  which  form  the 
principal  export  item.  The  agriculture  of  the  colony  is  not  at  present 
sufficiently  developed  to  meet  the  entire  local  demand  for  such  food¬ 
stuffs  as  grains.  The  mining  of  metals  has  had  some  attention,  but 
is  not  yet  a  paying  industry.  Forest  products  are  assuming  more 
importance,  mainly  as  regards  the  so-called  dom-palm  nut,  which 
supports  a  button-making  industry. 

In  the  development  of  manufacturing  industries  there  may  be  men¬ 
tioned  fish  and  meat  packing,  soap  making,  flour  milling,  salt  making 
by  the  evaporation  of  sea  Avater,  potash  mining,  and  button  making. 
Detailed  discussion  of  the  more  important  industries  folloAVS. 

11309°—  20 - 3 


18 


ERITREA :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


SISAL-HEMP  GROWING. 

The  larger  areas  of  land  in  Eritrea  that  offer  possibilities  for  agri¬ 
culture  receive  a  fairly  favorable  rainfall  during  two  or  three  months 
of  the  year,  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  is  more  or  less  dry.  The 
difficulty  or  expense  of  irrigating  such  tracts  of  cultivable  land  for 
crops  needing  more  water  has  resulted  in  the  introduction  of  sisal 
(Agave  sisalana)  as  an  agricultural  experiment.  An  official  of  the 
Eritrean  Government  estimates  that  at  present  the  two  principal 
plantations,  with  some  smaller  plats,  have  a  total  area  of  about  1,500 
acres.  The  largest  and  more  important  is  near  Keren,  on  the  Asmara- 
Keren  road.  Stripping  of  the  fiber  is  now  done  on  a  small  scale  at 
this  plantation. 

No  comprehensive  or  accurate  figures  are  yet  available  as  to  the 
status  of  the  industry  of  sisal  growing,  which  may,  however,  be 
considered  as  beyond  the  experimental  stage.  It  is  reasonably  certain 
that  sisal  growing  will  be  a  permanent  industry.  The  plantation  near 
Keren  was  seen  by  the  writer  and  the  plants  appeared  to  be  hardy 
and  strong,  although  under  the  average  size  of  the  plants  to  be  seen 
on  Mexican  plantations.  Inquiries  have  already  been  made  in  the 
United  States  by  firms  interested  in  securing  stripping  machinery  for 
use  in  the  growing  Eritrean  sisal-hemp  industry. 

COTTON  GROWING. 

In  the  areas  where  soil  and  other  conditions  seem  suitable,  which 
areas  are,  however,  more  or  less  restricted,  experiments  have  been 
made  with  both  the  American  and  Egyptian  varieties  of  cotton. 
Seed  of  the  King  or  Sugar  Loaf  variety  introduced  from  Texas  has 
yielded  about  500  pounds  of  good  staple  per  acre,  but  no  better  re¬ 
sults  have  yet  been  obtained.  In  some  places  the  staple  has  deterio¬ 
rated  slightly,  but  the  low  yield  and  the  shorter  staple  is  considered 
to  be  the  result  of  inadequate  preparation  and  cultivation  of  the 
land. 

The  hopes  for  any  considerable  production  of  cotton  in  Eritrea  do 
not  appear  now  to  promise  realization,  although  an  increase  in 
acreage  is  being  encouraged. 

•I 

GRAINS. 

The  cereal  crops  of  Eritrea  are  by  far  the  most  important  as  an  im¬ 
mediate  and  much-needed  source  of  food  supply.  On  the  plateau 
wheat,  barley,  millet,  and  some  less  well-known  indigenous  grains  are* 
the  principal  crops,  and  in  the  deeper  valleys  durra  is  the  important 
cereal  crop.  The  principal  food  of  the  population  is  supplied  by 
grains,  but  local  production  is  insufficient  for  this  need  and  consid¬ 
erable  quantities  are  imported  from  Abyssinia  and  India.  There 
is  some  importation  from  the  Province  of  Asir,  on  the  Arabian  Red 
Sea  coast.  The  most  important  feature  in  development  of  the  some¬ 
what  meager  agricultural  possibilities  of  Eritrea  will,  for  some  years 
to  come,  be  encouragement  of  the  natives  to  grow  more  grains  to  meet 
their  own  wants  and  to  extend  stock  raising. 


eriteea:  a  red  sea  Italian  colony. 


19 


OTHER  AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS. 

The  colonial  Government  is  offering  all  possible  encouragement  to 
the  planting  of  coffee,  which,  since  conditions  in  central  and  southern 
Eritrea  are  similar  to  those  in  the  coffee-producing  regions  in  adja¬ 
cent  Abyssinia,  should  in  time  come  to  be  an  important  crop.  Some 
experiments  in  growing  Mocha  coffee  have  been  made,  but  the  Mocha 
quality  has  not  been  obtained,  although  conditions  of  soil  and  climate 
appear  in  some  places  to  be  identical  with  those  in  the  Arabian 
coffee-growing  districts.  Some  orange  and  lemon  groves  planted  in 
recent  years  are  giving  good  results,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
within  a  few  years  the  needs  of  the  colony  and  of  various  Red  Sea 
ports  and  places  can  be  supplied  with  these  fruits  from  Eritrean 
groves.  Potatoes  and  other  vegetables  of  good  quality  are  raised  in 
sufficient  quantities  to  supply  needs  in  the  larger  trading  centers  and 
to  provision  ships  calling  at  the  port  of  Massaua.  Using  the  words 
of  an  Italian  review  of  agriculture  in  Eritrea,  it  may  be  said  that 
real  agricultural  development  in  the  colony  is  not  to-day  but  may 
and  should  be  to-morrow. 


STOCK  RAISING. 

There  are  many  cattle,  goats,  sheep,  mules,  and  camels  in  Eritrea, 
and  some  pigs.  The  herds  and  flocks  which  pass  and  repass  the 
frontiers  on  the  Sudan  and  Abyssinian  frontiers  of  Eritrea  make 
difficult  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  numbers  of  domestic  animals  in 
the  colony.  Sheep  and  goats  are  most  numerous  and  it  is  probable 
that  their  number  exceeds  a  million.  There  are  probably  not  so  many 
as  a  million  cattle.  Reports  published  from  the  Aden  consulate  some 
years  ago  gave  higher  estimates  for  the  live  stock  of  Eritrea,  which 
estimates  were  based  upon  the  ideas  of  traders  in  hides  and  skins  of 
many  years’  experience  in  the  Red  Sea  district.  It  is,  however,  an 
indisputable  fact  that  stock  raising  is  the  most  important  industry  in 
the  colony  and  that  his  domestic  animals  form  the  basis  of  the  living 
and  wealth  of  the  average  Eritrean  native.  More  than  one-half  of 
the  population  is  exclusively  pastoral. 

The  cattle  are  mostly  of  the  zebu  or  hump-backed  type,  and  the 
sheep  are  usually  not  wool  bearing.  The  larger  cattle  of  the  plateau 
will  yield  as  much  as  500  pounds  of  meat,  while  the  smaller  animals 
of  the  desert  or  semidesert  lowlands  will  not  average  more  than 
250  pounds  of  meat.  Milch  cows  yield  from  3  to  6  quarts  daily, 
and  much  of  this  milk  is  used  to  produce  butter,  which  is  in  turn 
converted  into  ghi,  a  form  of  clarified  butter  widely  used  by  the 
Moslem  natives  in  particular.  Ghi  is  exported  in  comparatively  im¬ 
portant  quantities.  Most  of  the  flocks  and  herds  are  owned  by  the 
nomadic  Moslem  tribes,  who  move  about  from  pasture  to  pasture  and 
from  water  hole  to  water  hole,  depending  upon  the  season. 

The  domestic  animals  supply,  in  addition  to  meat  and  milk,  the 
hides  and  skins  which  their  owners  trade  for  grain,  cotton  piece 
goods,  and  the  few  other  commodities  necessary  to  their  primitive 
style  of  living  that  they  do  not  themselves  produce.  Camels,  horses, 
mules,  and  donkeys  are  raised  mainly  for  use  as  pack  animals, 
although  oxen  are  also  used  for  this  purpose. 


20 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


COMBATING  ANIMAL  DISEASES. 

Rinderpest  and  foot-and-mouth  diseases  are  said  to  be  prevalent 
in  Eritrea,  as  well  as  in  Abyssinia,  and  rinderpest  in  particular 
causes  at  times  grave  mortality  among  the  herds  of  the  colony.  The 
Government  of  Eritrea  maintains  at  Asmara  an  antirinderpest 
serum  laboratory  in  charge  of  competent  veterinarians  and  bacteri¬ 
ologists,  which  is  the  only  institution  of  its  kind  in  all  the  Red  Sea 
district.  The  laboratory  has  stations  throughout  the  colony,  where 
infected  animals  are  either  brought  by  their  native  owners  or  are 
rounded  up  by  gendarmes  for  immunization.  A  charge  is  made 
for  immunization  of  animals.  Rinderpest  in  the  colony  could  be 
kept  under  control  if  it  were  not  for  new  infection  constantly  being 
introduced  from  Abyssinia,  where  no  measures  are  taken  to  combat 
or  control  it. 

The  existence  of  a  serum  laboratory  and  an  organization  for  fight¬ 
ing  cattle  diseases  is  a  distinct  encouragement  to  the  important  live¬ 
stock  industry  of  Eritrea  and  an  evidence  of  the  enterprising 
energy  of  the  colonial  Government,  which  is  sparing  no  effort  to 
assist  and  encourage  economic  progress. 

HIDES  AND  SKINS. 

In  1918  Eritrea  exported  9,355  metric  tons  of  hides  and  skins, 
according  to  Government  statistics,  but  a  considerable  part  of  this 
quantity,  probably  more  than  half,  undoubtedly  did  not  originate  in 
the  colony.  Large  quantities  of  hides  and  skins  from  Abyssinia  and 
the  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  pass  through  Massaua  in  transit  and  are 
naturally  included  in  the  export  returns  of  the  port.  Exports  of 
hides  and  skins  in  recent  years  were  in  the  ratio  of  about  5  pounds 
of  hides  to  1  of  skins. 

During  the  middle  of  December,  1919,  unselected  goatskins  were 
selling  at  225  Italian  lire  per  score  in  Asmara,  and  hides  of  good 
quality  were  selling  at  7  Italian  lire  per  kilo  (2.2046  pounds).  At 
this  date  lire  were  quoted  around  13  to  the  dollar  in  New  York. 
Considerable  quantities  of  skins  and  hides  were  being  offered  and 
some  exporters  had  on  hand  as  much  as  200  metric  tons  for  which 
they  claimed  to  be  unable  to  obtain  a  reasonable  price  offer  from 
foreign  markets.  Hides  offered  in  Eritrean  markets  average  little 
more  than  5  kilos  in  weight,  although  some  exporters  had  several 
tons  of  selected  hides  averaging  nearly  15  kilos  in  weight.  Goat¬ 
skins  offered  in  the  market  were  averaging  100  to  102  pounds  per 
hundred. 

The  bulk  of  the  hides  in  the  Eritrean  market  are  flat  and  not 
folded  as  are  most  of  the  Abyssinian  hides  entering  Jibuti,  from 
which  source  come  many  of  the  hides  in  the  Aden  market.  There 
is  thus  eliminated  the  procedure  followed  in  Jibuti  of  soaking  in 
sea  water  the  folded  hides  (folded  in  approximate  yard  squares) 
for  the  purpose  of  unfolding  them  and  perhaps  for  the  additional 
purpose  of  adding  slightly  to  their  weight  by  the  salt  absorbed 
from  the  sea  water. 

In  former  years  many  hides  and  skins  went  from  Massaua  to  Aden 
to  find  shipping  connections,  but  now  that  Massaua  is  comparatively 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


21 


well  served  by  shipping  services  to  and  from  Europe  it  is  becoming 
much  more  important  as  an  export  market  for  hides  and  skins.  These 
improved  foreign  shipping  facilities  have  resulted  in  the  sending  of 
quantities  of  hides  and  skins  from  the  neighboring  Arabian  coast 
to  Massaua  rather  than  to  the  more  distant  port  of  Aden  for  export 
abroad. 


MEAT  PACKING. 

The  meat-packing  plant  at  Asmara  is  the  most  important  manu¬ 
facturing  industry  in  the  colony.  This  plant  was  established  just 
before  the  war  as  a  result  of  the  demand  for  canned  meats  for  the 
use  of  the  Italian  army.  It  is  operated  by  a  firm  that  has  large  inter¬ 
ests  in  Italy  connected  with  the  canning  and  preserving  of  food¬ 
stuffs. 

This  plant  at  present  kills  an  average  of  100  beef  cattle  per  day 
and  300  to  400  hogs  per  year.  Chickens  are  also  canned  for  export 
to  Italy,  but  that  is  an  unimportant  feature  of  the  packing  plant, 
owing  to  inability  to  secure  any  considerable  quantity  of  chickens. 
Canned  beef  is  the  principal  product,  but  tripe,  suet,  and  brains 
are  also  put  into  cans  for  export. 

The  pork-packing  feature  is  yet  quite  small,  because  few  hogs  are 
raised  in  the  colony,  and  the  packing  plant  has  only  recently  arranged 
to  raise  its  own  hogs.  Imported  hogs  have  been  crossed  with  inferior 
native  stock,  and  the  manager  of  the  packing  plant  stated  that  the 
herd  would  be  increased  so  as  to  provide  from  3,000  to  4,000  head  per 
year.  The  hogs  are  fed  largely  with  refuse  from  the  beef -packing 
plant,  an  important  item  being  a  slop  preparation  made  chiefly  from 
the  cooked  livers  and  hearts  of  the  cattle  killed.  Some  of  the  hogs 
already  raised  and  killed  at  the  plant  have  weighed  over  300  pounds. 

The  hides  from  the  packing  plant  are  taken  on  contract  by  a  large 
Italian  firm  engaged  in  import  and  export  business  in  the  colony. 
The  manager  of  the  plant  stated  that  he  had  not  yet  made  satisfac¬ 
tory  arrangements  for  the  disposition  of  the  considerable  quantity 
of  bones  and  glue  stock  available. 

The  cattle  killed  are  mostly  from  northern  Abyssinia,  where  they 
are  bought  by  independent  buyers  under  contract  to  supply  the  pack¬ 
ing  plant  and  driven  overland  to  Asmara.  The  average  weight  of 
the  animals  slaughtered  is  from  350  to  400  kilos  (770  to  880  pounds). 
Prices  paid  for  cattle  on  the  hoof  were  not  stated. 

Owing  to  the  cool  climate  of  the  Eritrean  plateau,  the  packing 
plant  has  been  able  to  do  without  refrigerating,  but  such  facilities 
must  be  provided  when  the  pork-packing  feature  is  increased.  The 
greatest  difficulty  in  operating  the  plant  is  to  obtain  a  supply  of  fuel, 
which  is  wood  secured  from  a  country  not  too  heavily  forested  at 
the  best  and  which  in  the  vicinity  of  Asmara  has  long  since  been 
cut  out  by  the  natives. 

The  plant  employs  about  250  natives,  many  of  them  boys  and  girls, 
because  they  learn  quicker,  and  15  Europeans.  The  rate  of  pay  is 
from  2  to  4  Italian  lire  per  day. 

The  exports  of  canned  beef  alone  from  the  Asmara  packing  plant 
to  Italy  in  1917  amounted  to  1,028  metric  tons,  and  succeeding  years 
will  show  an  increase  over  this  amount. 

Some  American  machinery  is  used  at  the  Asmara  packing  plant. 


22 


eriteea:  a  red  sea  Italian  colony. 


FLOUR  MILLING. 

There  are  two  flour  mills  in  Asmara  and  one  each  in  Keren  and 
Adi  Caieh.  Wheat,  barley,  and  durra  are  ground  into  flour  for  local 
consumption.  As  some  of  the  grain  for  these  mills  must  be  im¬ 
ported,  there  is,  of  course,  no  export  of  flour.  These  mills  are  small 
and  do  not  have  up-to-date  machinery.  There  will  undoubtedly  be 
small  mills  established  at  other  trade  centers  to  make  flour  for  local 
consumption,  and  the  possibility  of  selling  a  limited  amount  of 
machinery  for  use  in  small  flour  mills  is  worth  consideration.  North¬ 
ern  Abyssinia  is  an  important  grain-producing  territory,  and  the 
inhabitants  reduce  their  grain  to  flour  of  some  sort  for  bread  making. 
With  the  promise  of  improved  transportation  facilities  it  is  probable 
that  a  great  deal  of  grain  will  come  to  southern  Eritrean  centers  for 
grinding  into  flour,  and  such  development  will  necessitate  an  increase 
in  the  number  and  size  of  local  Eritrean  flour  mills.  The  inhabitants 
of  both  the  Abyssinian  and  Eritrean  plateaus  depend  largely  upon 
breadstuifs  for  food. 


mining  industry. 

Three  gold  mines  have  in  past  years  been  opened  and  worked  in 
Eritrea.  All  are  quartz  mines.  Gold  mining  has  not,  however,  been 
profitable  and  the  three  mines  are  at  present  closed  down.  The 
natives  bring  in  small  amounts  of  gold  which  they  pan  from  stream 
beds.  Unless  considerably  richer  deposits  are  discovered,  it  is  not 
likely  that  gold  mining  will  develop  to  any  important  extent  in  the 
colony. 

Several  apparently  extensive  deposits  of  iron  ore  have  been  located, 
but  no  development  work  has  been  done,  mainly  on  account  of  lack 
of  transportation  facilities.  The  most  notable  deposit  of  iron  and 
manganese  is  at  Mount  Ghedem,  on  the  coast,  within  a  few  miles  of 
Massaua.  It  is  understood  that  active  mining  work  may  in  the 
near  future  be  undertaken  by  an  Italian  company.  The  transporta¬ 
tion  difficulty  in  this  instance  is  not  great,  as  the  mountain  descends 
to  *an  arm  of  the  sea  that  is  less  than  5  miles  across  to  the  port  of 
Massaua. 

Traces  of  oil  have  been  found  in  the  Dahlak  Archipelago,  which 
consists  of  about  122  small  islands  lying  just  off  the  entrance  to 
Massaua  Harbor.  These  islands  are  at  present  inhabited  only  by 
fishermen. 

There  are  good  deposits  of  limestone  at  different  places  in  the 
colony,  and  local  lime  burning  supplies  lime  for  building  needs 
within  the  colony. 

Careful  search  made  in  all  parts  of  the  colony  has  so  far  failed 
to  reveal  any  coal  deposits. 

potash  mining. 

By  far  the  most  important  mineral  industry  in  the  colony  is  potash 
mining,  and,  strictly  speaking,  the  industry  but  not  the  mine  belongs 
to  Eritrea.  The  potash  deposit  on  Avhich  this  industry  depends  is 
located  in  the  Asale  salt  plains,  200  feet  below  sea  level  and  about  10 
miles  over  the  Eritrean  frontier  in  Abyssinia.  The  deposit  lies  about 


ekitrea:  a  red  sea  Italian  colony. 


23 


60  miles  inland,  due  south  of  the  island  of  Baka,  which  is  near 
the  Eritrean  coast  on  or  about  the  fifteenth  degree  of  north  latitude. 

A  port  has  been  built  on  the  coast  at  this  point  and  is  known  as 
Mersa  Fatimari.  From  Mersa  Fatimari  a  light  narrow-gauge  rail¬ 
way  has  been  built  to  the  Abyssinian  frontier,  a  distance  of  about 
46  miles,  and  a  wagon  road  serves  transportation  needs  for  the  10 
or  11  miles  through  Abyssinian  territory  to  the  potash  deposits. 
Motor  trucks  are  used  on  both  the  wagon  road  and  the  railroad. 
Locomotives  were  originally  used  on  the  railroad,  but  because  of  the 
expense  and  difficulty  of  securing  fuel  and  the  scarcity  of  water 
for  the  boilers,  the  use  of  motor  trucks  with  wheels  fitted  to  the  rails 
has  been  found  less  expensive  and  more  practicable.  Sixteen  motor 
trucks  are  used  on  the  railroad. 

It  has  been  found  that  the  potash  taken  out  is  rapidly  replaced 
by  natural  action,  and  the  deposits  are,  therefore,  considered  practi¬ 
cally  inexhaustible.  The  salts  as  mined  are  90  per  cent  pure.  Since 
1915,  when  serious  development  work  was  first  undertaken  on  these 
deposits  of  potash  salts,  the  greatest  quantity  exported  in  any  one 
year  was  in  1917,  when  3,578  metric  tons  were  shipped  from  Massaua. 


Half  of  this  amount  went  to  Italy,  two-sevenths  to  France,  one- 
seventh  to  Great  Britain,  and  the  balance  to  Egypt. 

The  potash  mine  is  worked  under  a  35-year  concession  obtained 
by  the  Italian  discoverer  of  the  deposit  in  1911  from  the  Abyssinian 
Government.  Kecently  the  work  has  been  considerably  interfered 
with  by  Abyssinian  chiefs  in  the  district,  who  have  levied  tribute 
upon  the  Italian  company  and  demanded  payment  under  penalty 
of  stopping  the  work.  The  central  Abyssinian  Government  has 
apparently  not  been  able  to  exercise  its  authority  sufficiently  in  the 
potash  district  to  prevent  this  allegedly  illegal  levying  of  tribute  or 
taxes. 

The  Italian  Societa  Mineraria  Coloniale  is  working  the  mine,  and 
when  it  began  operations  in  1915  the  demand  for  potash  from  munition 
works  in  Europe  permitted  a  price  to  be  obtained  that  gave  a  very 
handsome  profit.  Since  the  armistice  the  demand  for  potash  for 
munition  manufacture  has  naturally  fallen  off  and  the  price  has 
also  declined  considerably.  The  operating  company  is  now  con¬ 
cerned  in  developing  new  demands  and  markets.  Mersa  Fatimari, 
the  potash  port,  is  about  76  miles  south  of  Massaua,  and  the  com¬ 
pany  transports  its  product  by  one  small  steamer  and  native  sailing 
craft  to  the  port  of  Massaua  for  export.  The  potash  is  usually 
sacked  and  transshipment  at  Massaua  offers  no  difficulties.  From 
5,000  to  8,000  tons  a  month  could  be  supplied  under  normal  condi¬ 
tions.  The  company  employs  about  1,000  laborers  at  the  mine. 


FOREST  PRODUCTS 


The  forests  of  Eritrea  are  not  heavy  or  widely  extended,  and  forest 
products  are  not,  therefore,  relatively  important.  The  wild  olive 
( Olea  chrysophylla)  grows  in  considerable  quantities,  and  because 
of  its  beautiful  grain  is  used  in  cabinetwork.  This  wood  is  now  a 
small  item  in  export  trade,  but  there  are  sufficient  quantities  to  make 
it  an  important  item  in  the  commerce  of  the  colony.  A  so-called 
juniper  tree  ( Juniperus  procera)  grows  in  considerable  numbers  in 
the  colony.  Its  red  wood  with  fine  grain  is  much  esteemed  for 


24 


eritrea:  a  red  sea  Italian  colony. 


cabinetwork,  as  well  as  for  coarser  uses.  The  baobab  tree  ( Adan - 
sonia  digitata )  is  also  a  common  tree  in  parts  of  Eritrea.  Forest 
conservation  is  receiving  attention  in  the  colony,  and  considerable 
tracts  of  the  limited  forest  districts  remaining  are  now  Government 
reservations  and  the  cutting  of  wood  or  timber  from  them  is  under 
Government  control.  Native  gendarmes  patrol  the  forest  districts 
to  report  any  violation  of  the  Government’s  forestry  regulations. 
Lumbering  on  a  modern  commercial  scale  could  not  be  supported  by 
Eritrean  forests. 


A  possible  source  of  rubber. 

Except  in  the  extreme  southwest  of  the  colony,  there  are  now  no  rub¬ 
ber-producing  trees  or  plants,  unless  the  candelabrum  tree  ( Euphor¬ 
bia  abyssinica )  can  be  so  classified.  This  tree  has  thick  quadrangular 
trunk  and  branches,  which  are  leafless  and  covered  with  small  spines. 
The  candelabrum  tree  much  resembles  a  giant  cactus.  It  reaches  a 
height  of  25  to  30  or  more  feet.  This  tree  is  very  abundant  in 
Eritrea  and  Abyssinia.  It  exudes,  when  wounded,  large  quantities 
of  milky  juice  that  is  caustic  and  poisonous  and  also  has  a  rubber 
content.  Experiments  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  rubber  from  this 
juice,  but  no  commercially  practicable  process  for  extracting  the 
rubber  has  yet  been  found. 

The  Aden  consulate  has  suggested  to  the  Eritrean  Government  the 
possible  use  of  a  process  recently  developed  by  an  American  com¬ 
pany  for  obtaining  a  rubber  gum  and  other  commercial  products 
from  the  ocatillo,  or  so-called  “  coachman’s  whip,”  which  grows  pro¬ 
fusely  in  the  semidesert  tracts  of  southwestern  United  States.  This 
company  is  said  to  use  a  distillation  furnace  originally  designed  for 
the  handling  of  lignite  coals.  The  plant  is  chopped  into  small 
pieces  and  subjected  to  heat  of  1,400°  F.  The  volatile  matter,  carry¬ 
ing  rubber,  etc.,  is  collected  as  it  forms.  If  this  or  some  other  com¬ 
mercially  practicable  process  can  be  applied  to  the  extraction  of  the 
rubber  content  of  the  milky  juice  of  the  candelabrum  tree,  there 
might  be  developed  an  industry  of  unusual  profit  and  importance 
in  the  colony  of  Eritrea  and  in  Abyssinia.  There  is  a  practically 
unlimited  supply  of  the  raw  material  in  these  countries,  and  the 
propagation  of  the  plant  is  very  easy  by  simply  planting  cuttings 
taken  from  branches  of  the  tree. 

GUM  ARABIC. 

Several  species  of  acacia  abound  in  Eritrea,  but  only  in  the  west 
where  the  colony  merges  into  the  Sudan  are  any  considerable  quanti¬ 
ties  of  the  acacia  shrub  which  yields  the  commercial  gum  arabic. 
The  gum  from  this  section  is  of  excellent  quality,  being  very  much 
like  the  high-class  Sudan  gums.  Exports  of  acacia  gums  in  1917 
amounted  to  a  little  more  than  500  metric  tons,  and  it  is  probable 
that  this  industry  will  develop  considerably  in  the  future. 

DOM  NUTS. 

The  so-called  dom-nut  palm  (dlyphaene  nodularia) ,  which  abounds 
along  the  Barca  River  and  its  affluents  in  western  Eritrea,  is  very 
important  to  Eritrean  commerce.  The  dom  nut  is  a  sort  of  vegetable 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


25 


ivory  used  in  the  manufacture  of  buttons,  and  the  nuts  from  the 
Barca  Province  not  only  supply  a  button-manufacturing  industry 
of  importance  already  established  in  the  colony,  but  in  their  un¬ 
manufactured  state  are  a  valuable  item  in  the  export  trade  of  the 
colony.  In  the  Province  of  Assab,  along  the  Red  Sea  coast,  is 
found  Ilyphaene  thebaica ,  another  species  of  the  dom  palm  which 
furnishes  a  nut  of  much  less  commercial  value  than  that  of  the 
nodularia. 

The  Eritrean  dom  nut  resembles  the  American  vegetable  ivory 
nut  ( Phytelephas  macrocarpa ),  but  is  darker  in  color,  smaller  in 
size,  and  contains  a  larger  cavity,  which,  of  course,  causes  it  to  yield 
less  material  of  commercial  value.  The  average  Barca  River  dom 
palm  yields  as  many  as  200  pounds  of  nuts  per  year  when  conditions 
for  its  growth  are  favorable. 

Agordat  and  Keren  are  the  centers  of  the  dom-nut  trade.  An 
Italian  company  has  a  concession  for  the  gathering  and  export  of 
these  nuts,  which  are  collected  from  12  stations  on  the  Barca  River 
and  its  affluents  and  brought  by  caravan  over  distances  of  50  to  250 
miles.  All  the  nuts  gathered  for  this  company  eventually  arrive  at 
Keren,  where  part  of  them  are  made  into  buttons  at  the  company’s 
factory  and  part  are  cleaned  and  exported  to  Italy  and  France.  At 
the  present  time  the  company  is  using  at  its  factory  about  1,000  metric 
tons  of  nuts  and  is  shipping  not  less  than  2,000  tons  per  annum.  Ex¬ 
port  figures  from  the  Massaua  customs  for  the  year  1918  show  a  total 
export  for  that  year  of  3,045  metric  tons  of  dom  nuts  or  dom-nut 
products. 

At  the  end  of  1919  the  button  factory  at  Keren  was  producing 
about  1,000  gross  of  buttons  daily.  Native  labor  is  employed  under 
Italian  supervision.  The  heavy  and  more  dangerous  cutting  work 
is  done  by  men,  who  are  paid  an  average  of  4  Italian  lire  per  day, 
and  the  lighter  and  finishing  work  is  done  by  women  and  girls,  who 
are  paid  an  average  wage  of  2|  Italian  lire  per  day.  This  button 
factory  was  established  in  1913  and  is  constantly  growing.  To-day 
about  9  Europeans  and  200  natives  are  employed. 

Most  of  the  work  of  button  making  is  done  by  machinery  and 
some  of  the  machines  are  very  ingenious.  The  buttons  are  white  or 
nearly  white  in  color.  Many  of  them  are  dyed  at  the  factory,  khaki 
and  black  being  the  principal  colors  used.  The  fuel  problem,  which 
is  always  difficult  in  Eritrea,  is  met  largely  by  the  use  of  the  husks 
and  other  waste  resulting  from  the  cleaning  and  preparation  of  the 
nuts. 

A  camel  carries  on  an  average  a  load  of  400  pounds  of  nuts  from 
the  producing  districts  to  the  plant  in  Keren.  The  probable  future 
extension  of  the  railroad  from  Keren  to  Agordat,  which  is  the 
nearest  important  trading  station  for  the  nut  collection,  will  cheapen 
and  facilitate  transportation  and  result  in  the  marketing  of  greater 
quantities  of  nuts.  The  dom-nut  industry  may,  therefore,  be  re¬ 
garded  as  one  of  the  firmly  established,  profitable,  and  most 
promising  industries  of  the  colony. 

BEESWAX. 

Beeswax  may  be  considered  a  forest  product  in  Eritrean  com¬ 
merce,  as  the  bulk  of  it  is  from  the  nests  of  wild  bees  in  the  forests. 
The  baobab  tree,  already  mentioned,  is  a  favorite  place  for  the  build- 


26 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


ing  of  nests  by  wild  bees,  because  the  enormous  trunk  of  spongy 
wood  often  contains  cavities.  Normally  Eritrea  exports  nearly  60 
tons  of  beeswax  per  year. 

SALT  MANUFACTURE. 

Of  the  products  contributed  to  Eritrean  commerce  by  the  Red 
Sea  the  salt  obtained  by  evaporating  sea  water  is  the  most  important. 
There  is  an  installation  at  Massaua  where  sea  water  is  brought  into 
large  pans  dug  in  the  earth  and  evaporated  by  the  heat  of  the  sun. 
This  plant  yields  an  average  of  more  than  40,000  metric  tons  of  salt 
per  year,  most  of  which  is  exported  to  India.  The  building  of  a 
number  of  large  salt  pans  at  Assab  is  now  under  way,  and  it  is  prob¬ 
able  that  the  Assab  plant  will  in  a  short  time  produce  a  quantity 
equal  to  that  now  obtained  at  Massaua.  Besides  these  two  large  com¬ 
mercial  plants  there  are  a  number  of  small  native-owned  salt  pans 
along  the  more  than  600  miles  of  Eritrean  Red  Sea  coast. 

This  industry  is  a  very  profitable  one  because  of  the  compara¬ 
tively  small  investment  for  the  plant.  The  pans  are  dug  in  the 
earth  along  the  shore,  the  water  is  brought  from  the  sea  into  them 
by  gravitation  or  by  the  use  of  windmills,  and  the  sun  furnishes  the 
heat  for  evaporation.  The  only  equipment  needed  is  a  simple  crush¬ 
ing  mill  for  reducing  the  size  of  the  lumps  of  salt,  which  are  dug 
from  the  pans  by  native  labor,  and  a  small  railway  for  conveying 
the  salt  from  the  pans  to  the  crushing  mill  and  from  the  mill  to  the 
electrically  operated  conveyor  that  throws  the  salt  into  the  holds  of 
the  ships  for  export. 

Arrangements  for  loading  salt  at  Massaua  are  superior  to  those 
available  at  the  largest  and  most  important  salt  works  in  the  Red 
Sea  district,  which  are  located  at  Aden.  At  the  latter  place  the  salt 
is  usually  conveyed  from  the  plant  to  the  ship  side  in  barges  and 
loaded  with  buckets  manipulated  by  steam  winches.  When  a  ship 
is  low  enough  in  the  water,  a  sort  of  conveyor  system  is  used  at 
Aden,  but  that  is  not  always  feasible.  Salt  making  throughout  the 
Red  Sea  district  is  a  very  profitable  industry,  owing  to  the  aid  given 
by  nature,  thus  obviating  the  purchase  of  expensive  equipment  and 
fuel. 

There  are  important  natural  deposits  of  rock  salt  along  the  Dun- 
kali  coast  which  supply  native  traders  with  the  blocks  used  as  a 
medium  of  exchange  in  Abyssinian  trade. 

MOTHER-OF-PEARL  AND  OTHER  SHELLS. 

The  coral  banks  along  both  sides  of  the  Red  Sea  are  rich  in 
marine  life,  and  fishing  for  pearls  and  mother-of-pearl  shells  is  an 
old  and  important  industry.  Native  fishermen  carry  on  this  industry, 
and  quantities  of  shells  are  brought  to  the  Massaua  market  not  only 
from  the  Dahlak  and  Assab  Harbor  islands  on  the  Eritrean  side  of 
the  Red  Sea,  but  also  from  the  Arabian  pearl  banks,  which  include 
the  islands  of  Farsan,  Hanish,  and  Jebel  Zukur. 

The  fishing  is  done  with  sailing  dhows  of  15  to  50  tons  in  size, 
which  carry  a  crew  of  12  to  25  natives,  usually  Somalis  or  Arabs. 
The  only  equipment  needed  by  the  native  diver  is  a  metal  or  wooden 
clamp  to  close  his  nostrils  when  under  the  water.  He  uses  a  heavy 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


27 


stone  to  carry  him  to  the  bottom,  where  he  works  rapidly  to  fill  a 
basket  with  such  shells  as  are  within  reach.  He  comes  up  for  breath¬ 
ing  at  intervals  varying  from  1  to  3  minutes.  These  divers  work 
only  in  the  more  shallow  water,  seldom  going  beyond  a  depth  of 
50  to  60  feet,  and  it  is  probable  that  rich  supplies  of  shells  in  deeper 
waters  along  the  pearling  banks  have  never  been  touched.  “  Saddaf  ” 
and  “  bulbul  ”  are  the  native  names  for  the  two  principal  kinds  of 
mother-of-pearl  shells  obtained  by  the  fishermen ;  the  scientific  names 
are  M eleagrina  margaritifera  and  M.  muricata ,  respectively.1 

The  Aden  market  receives  shells  from  various  parts  of  the  Red 
Sea  and  Gulf  of  Aden,  while  the  Massaua  market  receives  its  prin¬ 
cipal  supply  from  near-by  fishing  beds.  In  Eritrean  waters  pearl 
and  pearl-shell  fishing  is  nominally  under  Government  control,  and 
all  fishermen  are  expected  to  bring  their  product  to  the  Massaua 
market.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  Government  regulations  are 
evaded  when  the  fishermen  think  they  can  obtain  a  substantially 
higher  price  by  carrying  their  shells  to  Aden,  Jibuti,  or  other  local 
Red  Sea  markets.  Somalis  and  Arabs  do  most  of  the  pearl  fishing, 
and  some  of  the  Arab  dhows  come  to  Red  Sea  pearling  banks  from 
as  far  away  as  the  Persian  Gulf. 

The  so-called  “saddaf”  shell,  which  is  considerably  larger  than 
the  “bulbul,”  is  required  by  regulations  to  be  sold  at  auction  in  the 
customhouse  at  Massaua.  At  an  auction  held  in  November,  1919,  the 
average  price  paid  per  kilo  (2.2046  pounds)  was  3.65  Italian  lire. 
The  “  saddaf  ”  shells  offered  usually  fall  into  three  classes,  namely, 
8  to  the  100  pounds,  22  to  the  100  pounds,  and  72  to  the  100  pounds. 
The  shells  average  8  inches  in  diameter.  “  Bulbul  ”  shells  are  much 
smaller. 

Pearls  are  sold  to  French,  Arab,  and  British  Indian  buyers,  who 
specialize  in  the  business. 

The  trocas  shells  are  also  an  important  item  in  the  Massaua  export 
market.  Some  tortoise  shells  are  also  marketed,  but  the  quantity  is 
not  important.  In  a  normal  trade  year  the  Massaua  market  exports 
about  400  tons  of  the  “  saddaf  ”  shells,  300  tons  of  the  “  bulbul  ” 
shells,  900  tons  of  the  trocas  shells,  and  about  1  ton  of  tortoise  shells. 

FISH  PACKING. 

The  waters  of  the  coral  banks  on  both  sides  of  the  Red  Sea  are 
rich  in  edible  fishes,  and  definite  plans  have  been  made  by  Italian 
companies  to  build  and  operate  fish-packing  plants  at  Massaua  and 
Assab.  The  principal  products  of  these  plants  will  be  tuna  fish  and 
sardines.  Some  kinds  of  fish  will  also  be  salted  and  dried.  Owing  to 
the  abundant  supply  of  raw  material  and  the  comparative  ease  with 
which  it  can  be  obtained  in  quantities,  the  future  of  the  fish-packing 
industry  on  the  Eritrean  coast  should  be  very  important. 

SUMMARY  OF  ERITREAN  INDUSTRIES. 

From  the  foregoing  pages  it  will  be  noted  that  Eritrea  possesses, 
in  addition  to  the  natural  industries  of  agriculture  and  stock  raising, 
the  beginning  or  basis,  or  both,  for  a  substantial  development  of 
- - - — - - - \ - 

1  Fishing  for  mother-of-pearl  shells  in  the  Red  Sea  and  Gulf  of  Aden  is  discussed  in 
some  detail  in  Commerce  Reports  for  Apr.  9,  1918. 


28 


ERITREA  :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


such  industries  as  meat  packing,  fish  packing,  salt  manufacture, 
button  making,  and  flour  milling.  In  addition  to  the  industries  that 
have  been  directly  referred  to,  there  is  soap  making,  which  has  lately 
received  attention  by  the  establishing  of  a  factory  in  Asmara.  Fats 
for  this  industry  can  be  secured  from  local  sources,  and  only  the 
ingredients  of  much  less  bulk,  such  as  resin  and  caustic  soda,  will  be 
required  from  outside  sources. 

The  cities  of  Massaua  and  Asmara  have  electric  light  plants  for 
public  service,  and  in  the  first-named  place  there  is  an  ice  factory 
with  a  capacity  of  15  tons  daily  and  a  distilling  plant  which  can 
supply  about  80  tons  of  water  daily  when  such  amount  is  necessary 
to  supplement  the  supply  of  fresh  water  from  natural  sources. 

At  Asmara  there  is  under  construction  a  series  of  artificial  lakes 
extending  from  the  city  a  distance  of  about  10  miles  to  where  there 
is  a  precipitous  drop  toward  the  coastal  plains.  The  water  from  the 
lakes  will  drain  to  this  point,  where  a  power  plant  will  be  built  for 
the  production  of  electric  energy  from  the  fall  of  the  water.  The 
water  passing  from  the  power  plant  will  be  carried  down  valleys 
leading  to  the  sea  and  will  serve  in  the  dry  season  for  irrigation  of 
agricultural  lands  along  these  valleys.  The  Asmara  hydroelectric 
plant  is  expected  to  develop  about  1,000  horsepower. 

Eritrea  is  much  more„advanced  in  industrial  development  than  any 
other  political  division  in  the  entire  Fed  Sea  commercial  district. 

TRANSPORTATION  FACILITIES. 

Considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  the  development  of  land 
transportation  in  Eritrea,  and  this  good  work  continues.  The  Gov¬ 
ernment  of  the  colony  has  realized  that,  owing  to  its  comparatively 
small  size  and  lack  of  any  important  variety  of  natural  resources, 
the  commercial  future  lies  largely  in  the  encouragement  of  trade 
with  the  opposite  Arabian  Fed  Sea  coast  and  with  its  larger  and 
richer  neighboring  territories  of  the  Sudan  and  Abyssinia,  but  par¬ 
ticularly  with  the  latter,  which  is  practically  a  virgin  field  for  com¬ 
mercial  exploitation.  Railways  and  wagon  roads  have  been  built 
and  attention  given  to  the  organization  of  the  caravan  routes.  Tt 
will  take  many  more  years  entirely  to  replace  the  latter  with  made 
roads. 

RAILROADS. 

The  one  completed  railroad  in  the  colony  is  the  Massaua- Asmara 
road.  The  length  of  this  road  is  about  80  miles  and  the  gauge  90 
centimeters  (35.43  inches).  Its  ascent  from  sea  level  at  Massaua  to 
an  elevation  of  about  7,200  feet  at  Asmara  gives  a  route  with  remark¬ 
able  scenic  effects.  There  are  29  tunnels  in  the  80-mile  length  of  the 
roach  This  railroad  was  planned  and  built  by  the  Government.  Con¬ 
struction  was  begun  in  1900  and  completed  in  1911.  The  delay  in 
completion  was  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  there  was  first  built  a 
good  wagon  road  from  Massaua  to  Asmara,  which  in  no  place  has 
more  than  a  7  per  cent  grade  and  which  served  transportation  needs 
to  a  large  extent.  The  railroad  bed  is  well  ballasted,  and  the  service 
is  well  organized.  There  are  two  regular  passenger  trains  per  week 
each  way,  but  special  trains  are  run  for  the  convenience  of  passengers 


ERITREA :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


29 


to  or  from  steamers  arriving  at  and  departing  from  Massaua.  The 
freight  trains  carry  a  passenger  coach  when  required,  and  there  is 
really  a  service  much  more  frequent  than  biweekly.  Six  hours  are 
required  for  the  trip  from  Massaua  to  Asmara  or  from  Asmara  to 
Massaua. 

Passenger  rates  on  the  Massaua- Asmara  railroad  are  48,  24,  and 
12  Italian  lire,  respectively,  for  first,  second,  and  third  class  fares. 
These  rates  are  double  those  prevailing  before  and  during  the  first 
part  of  the  World  War.  The  road  is  well  patronized  by  business 
men,  who  have  their  residences  in  the  cool  and  refreshing  atmosphere 
of  the  highlands,  but  for  business  reasons  must  make  frequent  trips  to 
Massaua,  where  the  climate  is  generally  hot  and  oppressive.  The 
fact  that  Massaua  residents  can  in  a  few  hours  reach  a  cool  and 
agreeable  climate  gives  that  port  an  advantage  over  the  other  Red 
Sea  ports,  all  of  which  are  like  it  in  having  the  disadvantage  of  a 
climate  that  is  generally  too  hot  for  the  health  and  comfort  of 
Europeans. 

The  bulk  of  the  imports  and  exports  of  Eritrea  pass  over  the 
Massaua-Asmara  railroad.  Freight  rates  are  maintained  at  as  low 
a  rate  as  is  possible  in  order  to  encourage  traffic.  Rates  are  calcu¬ 
lated  per  ton-kilometer  (1  kilometer  equals  0.62137  of  a  mile).  Mer¬ 
chandise  is  divided  into  five  classes,  for  which  the  rates  per  ton- 
kilometer  under  the  last  tariff,  published  in  1914,  were  as  follows: 
Class  I,  1  lira;  class  II,  0.50  lira;  class  III,  0.40  lira;  class  IV,  0.30 
lira;  and  class  V,  0.20  lira.  On  account  of  loss  by  exchange  and  of 
increased  operating  expenses  due  to  conditions  growing  out  of  the 
war  these  base  rates  have  been  increased  100  per  cent,  and  further 
increase  may  be  necessary.  These  actual  or  possible  increases  are  not 
yet  regarded  as  permanent.  The  principal  commodities  of  probable 
interest  to  American  commerce  are  classified  as  follows:  In  class  II 
are  placed  cotton  piece  goods,  automobiles,  gasoline;  in  class  III  are 
hardware,  iron,  and  steel  (including  galvanized-iron  sheets)  ;  in 
class  IV  are  kerosene  (upon  which  a  special  tariff  of  20  per  cent 
additional  is  also  charged),  beeswax,  canned  fruits  and  vegetables, 
hides  and  skins,  soap;  and  in  class  V  are  lubricating  oils  and  greases 
and  dom  nuts.  The  exact  distance  upon  which  freight  rates  between 
Massaua  and  Asmara  are  figured  is  120  kilometers. 

Work  on  the  extension  of  the  railroad  from  Asmara  to  Keren,  a 
distance  of  105  kilometers  (65.24  miles),  is  proceeding  and  the  road 
will  be  opened  to  traffic  before  the  end  of  1920  if  the  steel  rails, 
which  will  come  from  the  United  States,  are  received  in  time.  There 
are  also  definite  plans  for  extending  the  railroad  from  Keren  to 
Agordat,  a  further  distance  of  72  kilometers  (44.73  miles),  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  steel  for  this  line  will  also  be  obtained  from  the 
United  States.  The  colonial  Government  has  so  far  undertaken  all 
railroad  construction  and  management. 

MOTOR  AND  WAGON  ROADS. 

Eritrea  has  about  300  miles  of  motor  and  wagon  roads  in  good  re¬ 
pair.  The  main  system  of  roads  is  on  the  plateau  which  extends 
through  the  colony  from  north  to  south.  All  motor  and  wagon  roads 
have  been  built  by  the  military  administration  of  the  colony,  and 
their  maintenance  is  under  its  charge.  Grades  are  restricted  to  7 


30 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


per  cent  and  are  usually  less.  The  trunk  road  following  the  trend  of 
the  plateau  extends  south  and  a  little  east  from  Keren,  via  Asmara, 
Saganeiti,  Adi  Caieh,  and  Senafe,  to  Fort  Dabormida  on  the  Abys¬ 
sinian  frontier,  a  distance  of  approximately  170  miles.  From  Asmara 
one  can  go  south  over  another  motor  road  via  Adi  Ugri  to  Adi  Quala, 
a  distance  of  about  35  miles.  Another  trunk  road  is  that  from 
Massaua  to  Asmara,  which,  however,  is  not  kept  in  the  best  state 
of  repair  because  the  railroad  has  largely  taken  its  place.  F rom  these 
main  lines  of  road  there  are  several  shorter  branches  running  to 
trade  centers  of  less  importance. 

Over  all  main  roads  the  Government  operates  post  wagons,  which 
also  carry  passengers.  It  is  also  possible  to  secure  Government 
motor-car  and  motor-truck  transportation  for  both  passengers  and 
merchandise.  Owing  to  the  heavier  cost  of  this  kind  of  transporta¬ 
tion  for  merchandise,  however,  a  great  deal  of  it  is  moved  by  pack 
animals  or  in  two-wheeled  carts  drawn  by  mules.  When  the  disor¬ 
ganization  growing  out  of  war  conditions  has  become  more  adjusted 
it  is  the  intention  of  the  Government  to  grant  concessions  to  private 
transportation  companies  for  motor  and  wagon  passenger  and  freight 
service  over  these  roads.  The  colony  of  Fritrea  possesses  more  motor 
and  wagon  roads  than  all  other  Ked  Sea  political  divisions  combined. 

CARAVAN  ROUTES. 

The  Eritrean  road  system  has  caravan  route  tributaries  reaching 
to  all  parts  of  the  colony  and  into  the  Sudan  and  Abyssinia.  Camels 
and  mules  are  the  pack  animals  ordinarily  used.  A  camel  will  carry 
between  400  and  500  pounds  and  travel  an  average  of  12  to  15  miles 
per  day.  Three  Italian  lire  per  day  is  fair  hire  for  camels.  Mules 
will  carry  usually  from  180  to  220  pounds  and  travel  an  average  of 
25  miles  per  day.  The  hire  for  mules  varies  much  more  than  the 
hire  for  camels,  but  is  about  2  Italian  lire  per  day.  The  Eritrean 
mule,  like  his  relative  the  Abyssinian  mule,  is  a  strong  animal  with 
great  endurance  and  is  much  better  suited  to  packing  in  the  high¬ 
lands  than  is  the  camel.  Pack  animals  of  both  kinds  are  reasonably 
plentiful,  and  the  average  trader  has  no  difficulty  in  moving  his 
merchandise  when,  where,  and  how  he  pleases.  The  colonial  Gov¬ 
ernment  takes  a  special  interest  in  providing  and  regulating  interior 
transportation  for  the  benefit  of  trade.  It  particularly  encourages 
the  visits  of  traders  from  Abyssinian  and  Sudanese  territory,  and 
provides  caravanseries  for  the  accommodation  of  both  men  and  ani¬ 
mals  at  all  trading  centers. 

All  roads  and  caravan  routes  in  Eritrean  territory  are  safe,  and 
traders  using  them  are  not  subject  to  attacks  by  brigands  or  to  the 
payment  of  tolls  to  the  native  chiefs  through  whose  territories  the 
routes  pass,  as  is  the  case  in  some  parts  of  Abyssinia. 

WATER  TRANSPORTATION. 

There  are  no  navigable  rivers  or  lakes  in  Eritrean  territory,  and 
water  transportation  is  therefore  confined  to  the  Red  Sea  coast.  The 
ports  of  Massaua  and  Assab  both  have  direct  shipping  connections 
with  Europe  and  are  ports  of  call  for  Red  Sea  coasting  steamers  and 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


31 


sailing  craft.  The  ocean  shipping  services  of  Massaua  and  Assab 
are  discussed  in  detail  in  subsequent  pages  of  this  report  under  the 
heading  of  special  factors  influencing  the  development  of  Eritrean 
commerce. 

FINANCE  AND  BANKING. 

Eritrea  being  an  Italian  colony,  it  naturally  follows  that  the  cur¬ 
rency  unit  is  the  Italian  lira  and  that  financial  practices  and  bank¬ 
ing  laws  are  Italian  in  spirit  at  least.  For  the  past  two  years  lira 
currency  has  been  represented  only  by  bank  notes  and  fractional  cop¬ 
per  coins.  Practically  all  Italian  silver  coins  have  disappeared  from 
circulation.  As  in  Italy,  1  and  2  lira  notes  are  used  to  meet  the  short¬ 
age  of  small  silver  coins.  The  Austrian  Maria  Theresa  trade  dollar 
is  popular  among  native  traders  in  the  colony,  as  it  is  in  all  the  po¬ 
litical  divisions  making  up  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district,  but  the 
colonial  Government  discourages  the  use  of  this  dollar.  Rupees  are 
also  traded  among  merchants  in  Massaua,  being  especially  desired  by 
the  British  Indian  merchants. 

THE  NEW  ITALIAN  TRADE  DOLLAR. 

A  royal  Italian  decree  of  May  31,  1918,  provides  for  the  coinage  by 
the  royal  mint  at  Rome  of  a  silver  trade  dollar  to  be  known  as  the 
dollar  of  Italy.  This  coin  is  primarily  for  use  in  Eritrea,  where  it  is 
meant  to  replace  the  well-known  Austrian  Maria  Theresa  dollar  or 
thaler ;  but  the  possibility  that  it  will  replace  the  Austrian  trade  dol¬ 
lar  throughout  the  Red  Sea  district  was  undoubtedly  an  important 
consideration  in  providing  for  the  issuing  of  this  new  coin.  The 
first  consignments  of  the  Italian  dollar,  amounting  to  somewhat  less 
than  a  million,  have  recently  been  put  into  circulation  in  Eritrea. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  AUSTRIAN  TRADE  DOLLAR. 

For  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  most  important  and  widely 
used  coin  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district — which  includes  Eri¬ 
trea,  Abyssinia,  French,  British,  and  Italian  Somalilands,  Socotra, 
Makalla,  Aden  protectorate,  and  the  Arabian  Red  Sea  Provinces  of' 
Yemen,  Asir,  and  Hejaz — has  been  the  Maria  Theresa  dollar.  This 
trade  dollar  was  first  minted  at  Trieste  in  1780  to  serve  the  eastern 
commerce  of  that  port.  Up  to  1914  considerable  quantities  of  these 
dollars  were  minted  each  year  at  Trieste,  usually  bearing  the  date  of 
1780,  and  it  is  estimated  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  World  War 
there  were  as  many  as  200,000,000  Maria  Theresa  dollars  in  circu¬ 
lation  or  hoarded  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district.  Naturally 
the  sending  out  of  new  supplies  from  Trieste  was  stopped  by  the 
war.  The  rise  in  the  price  of  silver  has  resulted  in  the  buying  up  of 
many  of  the  dollars  in  this  district  for  export  to  India,  England, 
and  other  places  for  melting  down  into  bullion  bars. 

It  is  estimated  that  fully  a  third  of  all  the  Austrian  dollars  in  cir¬ 
culation  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  this  commercial  district  have 
gone  to  the  silver  market  of  the  world  in  the  form  of  bullion. 
With  no  new  supplies  available  there  has  resulted  a  serious  shortage 
in  a  medium  of  exchange  for  commercial  purposes,  and  traders  have 
found  themselves  much  handicapped  in  doing  business  away  from 


32 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


the  seaports.  The  Red  Sea  native  much  prefers  the  Austrian  dollar 
to  any  other  coin,  and  often  he  will  refuse  to  sell  his  coffee,  skins, 
hides,  and  other  products  for  other  coins.  This  situation  can  only  be 
met  by  barter ;  that  is,  by  actually  trading  to  the  native  cotton  piece 
goods"  and  other  manufactures  that  he  wants  for  his  own  products. 
Obviously  such  a  situation  does  not  make  for  commercial  progress, 
and  this  is  one  reason  for  the  issuance  of  the  new  Italian  dollar. 

ITALIAN  TRADE  DOLLAR  IN  PLACE  OF  AUSTRIAN  DOLLAR. 

While  the  Italian  dollar  is  planned  to  help  Eritrean  commerce,  the 
Italian  national  pride  has  been  a  more  important  factor  in  bringing 
about  its  issuance.  The  Italian  Government  has  felt  that  its  colony 
of  Eritrea  should  not  be  permitted  to  depend  upon  an  Austrian 
trade  dollar  to  facilitate  trading,  and  considers  the  present  an  oppor¬ 
tune  time  to  substitute  for  it  a  new  trade  dollar  bearing  the  stamp 
of  Italian  sovereignty.  Another  motive  in  the  coining  of  the  new 
dollar  is  to  forestall  a  resumption  of  the  coining  of  the  Maria 
Theresa  trade  dollar,  which  has  long  been  an  important  and  profit¬ 
able  item  of  Austrian  commerce.  The  Italians  having  succeeded  to 
the  possession  of  Trieste,  the  home  of  the  Maria  Theresa  dollar,  it 
has  evidently  been  thought  fitting  by  them  that  an  Italian  trade 
dollar  should  also  succeed  that  bearing  the  Austrian  stamp.  Further, 
if  the  new  dollar  can  be  popularized  in  other  parts  of  the  Red  Sea 
district,  as  is  planned,  it  should  be  a  very  valuable  aid  to  Italian 
political  and  economic  influence. 

The  Maria  Theresa  dollar  was  coined  in  Trieste  for  private  de¬ 
mands  and  a  mint  charge  of  1^  per  cent  collected.  It  was  solely  a 
trade  dollar  and  was  not  issued  for  governmental  use.  The  Italian 
dollar  is  coined  in  Rome  for  the  Eritrean  Government,  but  will 
also  be  coined  upon  private  demand.  Italian  money  is  the  legal  cir¬ 
culating  medium  in  Eritrea,  and  while  the  new  dollar  will  be  coined 
at  the  request  of  the  Eritrean  Government  it  will  have  the  identity 
solely  of  a  trade  dollar. 

DESIGN  OF  NEW  ITALIAN  TRADE  DOLLAR. 

Considerable  thought  was  given  to  the  design  for  the  new  Italian 
dollar.  Three  ideas  were  considered:  To  reproduce  the  so-called  St. 
Mark  dollar  issued  in  1783  by  the  old  Venetian  Republic  for  the 
Levant  trade ;  to  create  an  absolutely  new  design ;  and  to  use  a  de¬ 
sign  which  would  resemble  the  Maria  Theresa  dollar  but  with  changes 
to  indicate  its  Italian  character.  The  St.  Mark  dollar  was  objected 
to  because  of  the  lion  on  one  side  and  the  inscription  referring  to 
the  Republic  of  Venice,  which  would  not  obtain  the  Italian  political 
aims  desired.  One  design  for  an  absolutely  new  dollar  had  on  one 
side  of  the  dollar  the  bust  of  a  female  figure  symbolizing  Eritrea  and 
on  the  other  side  the  Italian  eagle  bearing  a  shield  with  a  star.  The 
principal  objection  to  this  design  was  that  it  would  be  more  difficult 
to  introduce  because  of  its  dissimilarity  to  the  Austrian  dollar.  The 
Red  Sea  native  is  decidedly  conservative  and  much  disinclined  to 
accept  a  substitute  for  his  favorite  Austrian  dollar,  and  any  substi¬ 
tute  offered  must  resemble  the  old  dollar  in  order  to  have  a  chance 
to  establish  itself  in  his  favor. 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


33 


A  compromise  design  was  finally  accepted,  and  its  description  is 
briefly  as  follows :  One  side  shows  the  bust  of  a  female  figure  sym¬ 
bolizing  Italy  and  the  inscription  “  Regnum  Italicum,”  with  the  date 
1918 ;  the  reverse  shows  the  Italian  eagle  with  the  shield  on  its  breast 
bearing  the  cross  of  Savoy  and  the  inscription  “Ad  Erythr.  Negot. 
Commocl.  Arg.  Sign.”  (Ad  Erythraeorum  Negotiorum  Commodi- 
tatem  Argentum  Signatum).  On  the  contour  or  edge  of  the  coin  is 
repeated  three  times,  at  equal  intervals,  separated  by  a  star  and  palm 
leaves,  the  group  of  letters  “  F.  E.  R.  T.”,  standing  for  the  motto 
“  Fortitudo  ejus  Rhodum  tenuit  ”  of  the  House  of  Savoy. 

ITALIAN  AND  AUSTRIAN  TRADE  DOLLARS  COMPARED. 

Thus  the  new  dollar  has  in  place  of  the  effigy  of  Maria  Theresa  on 
the  Austrian  dollar  the  effigy  of  symbolic  Italy,  which  resembles 
somewhat  that  of  Maria  Theresa  but  lacks  on  the  shoulder  of  the 
robe  worn  the  brooch  of  10  jewels,  which  is  important  to  the  native 
user  of  the  Austrian  dollar,  as  it  indicates  whether  or  not  it  is  so 
much  worn  that  it  has  lost  weight.  On  the  reverse  side  the  double¬ 
headed  Austrian  eagle  has  been  replaced  by  the  single-headed  Ital¬ 
ian  or  Savoyard  eagle,  and  the  Austrian  coat  of  arms  on  the  shield 
carried  on  the  eagle’s  breast  replaced  by  the  cross  of  Savoy.  The  dif¬ 
ference  in  inscriptions  is  not  important,  as  the  native  does  not  read 
them,  but  he  has  noticed  already  the  absence  of  the  shoulder  brooch 
on  the  female  effigy ;  and  the  substitution  of  the  cross  on  the  new  dol¬ 
lar  may  also  be  objected  to  by  the  Red  Sea  natives,  who  are  mostly 
Mohammedans.  There  is,  however,  a  strong  resemblance  between  the 
two  coins  and  the  design  is  considered  an  attractive  one  in  Red  Sea 
commercial  circles. 

WEIGHT,  SIZE,  AND  VALUE  OF  THE  TWO  DOLLARS. 

In  weight  and  size  the  two  dollars  are  almost  identical.  The  Aus¬ 
trian  dollar  averages  in  weight  28.0599  grams  (1  gram  equals  15.432 
grains)  of  silver,  with  a  fineness  of  833.333  and  a  diameter  of  about 
40  millimeters  (1  millimeter  equals  0.03937  inch).  There  is  a  slight 
variation  of  this  weight  and  measurement  in  coins  of  different  peri¬ 
ods,  although  all  are  of  the  same  design  and  bear  usually  the  same 
date.  The  new  Italian  dollars  will  average  28.0668  grams  of  silver 
of  835  fineness  and  have  a  diameter  of  40  millimeters. 

Theoretically  the  Italian  and  Austrian  dollars  have  the  same 
value,  but  some  traders  are  understood  to  be  offering  in  Eritrea  a 
premium  of  one-half  lira  for  Austrian  dollars  to  be  used  in  the  Abys¬ 
sinian  trade.  The  Abyssinian  is  a  particularly  conservative  indi¬ 
vidual,  and  it  will  probably  be  some  time  before  he  will  accept  the 
new  trade  dollar  as  the  equivalent  of  the  Austrian  dollar,  although 
the  former  weighs  slightly  more.  The  new  Italian  dollar  is  not  yet 
in  circulation  in  Aden. 

IMPORTANT  INFLUENCE  ON  ITALIAN  PRESTIGE. 

Indications  are  that  the  coinage  of  the  Maria  Theresa  dollar  will 
not  be  resumed,  at  least  not  in  the  near  future,  and  that  being  the 
case,  the  new  Italian  dollar  has  a  favorable  opportunity  to  take  its 
place  in  Red  Sea  commerce,  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  political 

11309°— 20 - 5 


34 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


and  economic  prestige  of  Italy  and  to  the  profit  of  those  Italian  banks 
and  merchants  dealing  in  the  dollars.  It  is  believed  that  the  Red 
Sea  commercial  district  could  take  upward  of  2,000,000  of  these  trade 
dollars  per  year.  The  proposed  substitution  of  a  new  trade  dollar 
for  the  old  and  established  Maria  Theresa  dollar  in  this  district 
promises  to  bring  about  an  interesting  contest  between  commercial 
progress  and  the  decided  conservatism  of  the  native  producer  in  Red 
Sea  territories. 

Abyssinia  offers  the  most  important  field  for  the  use  of  these  new 
dollars,  and  if  they  are  established  in  that  country  the  result  will  un¬ 
doubtedly  be  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  development  of  Italo-Abys- 
sinian  commercial  relations.  It  is  understood  that  prominent  Arab 
merchants  located  in  Eritrea  will  also  undertake  the  introduction  of 
the  new  Italian  trade  dollar  into  Arabian  Red  Sea  ports.  The  com¬ 
merce  of  these  ports,  which  has  long  been  controlled  from  Aden,  is 
an  important  consideration  in  the  future  development  of  the  Eritrean 
port  of  Massaua,  and  the  dollar  is  likely  to  have  a  favorable  in¬ 
fluence  in  this  situation. 

This  enterprising  step  of  the  Italian  colonial  Government  to  re¬ 
place  the  Austrian  Maria  Theresa  trade  dollar  will  be  not  only  a 
decided  advantage  to  Italian  commerce  in  all  the  Red  Sea  territories, 
but  will  also  be  an  advantage  to  trading  communities  of  other  na¬ 
tionalities  of  the  district,  which  have  been  inconvenienced  by  the 
trade-dollar  shortage. 

BANKS. 

The  colonial  Government  bank  is  the  prominent  Banca  d’ltalia, 
which  is  well  known  in  international  commerce.  In  Eritrea  this 
bank  has  branches  at  Massaua,  Asmara,  Adi  Caieh,  and  Keren.  It 
issues  paper  money  and  performs  in  general  the  functions  appertain¬ 
ing  to  a  Government  bank.  Its  policy  in  the  colony  is  conservative 
and  for  that  reason  it  has  not  entered  as  intimately  into  the  general 
commerce  of  the  country  as  Avould  seem  possible. 

The  Banca  per  L’Africa  Orientale  represents  the  interests  of  the 
Banca  Italiana  di  Sconto  of  Rome,  and  is  very  closely  related  to  com¬ 
mercial  operations  in  the  colony.  This  bank  is  established  only  at 
Massaua  and  does  not  therefore  offer  the  general  service  afforded  by 
the  Banca  d’ltalia  with  branches  at  four  different  trading  centers. 
Banking  business  in  the  colony  is  largely  concerned  with  dealing  in 
exchange.  In  Asmara  there  is  a  local  bank  known  as  the  Banca  Co¬ 
operative  Popolare  Eritrea.  These  three  banks  are  all  that  are  es¬ 
tablished  in  the  colony.  The  Banca  d’ltalia  and  the  Banca  Italiana 
di  Sconto  are  represented  in  New  York. 

It  is  a  general  practice  of  Eritrean  banks  to  charge  interest  at  the 
rate  of  8  per  cent  on  overdrafts  and  for  loans  on  both  merchandise 
and  real  estate.  The  colony  has  ample  banking  facilities  and  reput¬ 
able  merchants  find  no  trouble  in  having  their  financial  transactions 
taken  care  of  at  reasonable  rates. 

GOVERNMENT  REVENUE. 

The  colony  of  Eritrea  is  not  self-supporting  and  it  receives  an  an¬ 
nual  subsidy  from  the  Government  at  Rome.  The  amount  of  this 
annual  subsidy  is  understood  to  be  6,000,000  Italian  lire.  Additional 


ERITREA :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


35 


•sums  needed  for  special  projects  in  the  nature  of  public  works  of 
various  sorts  are  also  granted  by  the  home  Government. 

The  principal  revenue  of  the  colony  is  from  the  customs,  which 
in  the  calander  year  1918  yielded  5,530,300  lire  as  follows:  Customs 
duties,  3,841,500  lire;  1  per  cent  ad  valorem  tax  for  statistical  pur¬ 
poses,  954,800  lire ;  landing  charges,  220,500  lire ;  quarantine  and  other 
harbor  fees,  373,500  lire;  special  taxes  or  assessments,  140,000  lire. 

Customs  duties  at  the  port  of  Massaua  are  assessed  as  follows :  All 
imports  of  Italian  origin  pay  only  1  per  cent  ad  valorem  duty;  kero¬ 
sene,  gasoline,  and  sugar  pay  a  duty  of  15  per  cent  ad  valorem ;  cotton 
piece  goods  and  yarns  pay  10  per  cent  ad  valorem ;  and  all  other  im¬ 
ports,  except  grains  at  6  per  cent,  pay  8  per  cent  ad  valorem.  The 
duty  assessed  on  all  exports,  whether  to  Italy  or  foreign  countries,  is 
1  per  cent  ad  valorem.  Alcoholic  preparations  pay  60  centesimi  per 
liter. 

In  addition  to  the  customs  duties  there  is  a  commercial  tax  levied 
on  trading  firms;  a  house  or  real  estate  tax;  an  excess-profits  tax; 
and  a  tribute  or  tax  collected  from  the  various  native  tribes.  All  of 
these  taxes  are  more  or  less  nominal  and  the  revenue  from  any  one 
of  these  sources  is  not  nearly  equal  to  the  customs  revenue.  The 
Government  also  has  its  postal,  telegraph,  telephone,  railroad,  and 
interior  land  transport  revenue,  all  of  these  public  utilities  being 
owned  and  operated  by  the  Government.  The  total  expenditures  of 
the  Eritrean  Government  total  about  25,000,000  lire  per  year. 

INVESTMENTS. 

Although  the  colony  of  Eritrea  could  make  good  use  of  foreign 
investments  to  aid  its  economic  development,  the  present  policy  of 
the  Government  and  business  community  appears  to  be  to  discourage 
other  than  Italian  investments.  Railroads,  motor  and  wagon  roads, 
and  similar  public  improvements  are  reserved  for  Government  enter¬ 
prise.  Large  agricultural  projects,  stock  raising,  and  mining  offer 
three  sound  investment  enterprises  which  are  scarcely  open  to  foreign 
capital  because  of  the  restriction  of  concessions  of  public  lands  to 
Italians  only.  Steps  have  already  been  taken  by  Italian  firms  to¬ 
ward  the  development  of  all  promising  manufacturing  industries. 

It  is  evident  that  there  is  little  facility  for  the  investment  of  for¬ 
eign  capital  in  Eritrea,  except  in  enterprises  which  are  at  least  nomi¬ 
nally  Italian  and  under  Italian  direction.  There  is,  however,  no  ap¬ 
parent  reason  why  this  situation  may  not  change  to  the  advantage 
of  foreign  investments. 

LAND  TITLES  AND  VALUES. 

Land  titles  are  granted  by  the  colonial  Government.  There  is 
much  public  land  open  to  grant  as  concessions,  but  only  Italians  may 
take  up  such  concessions.  The  colonial  Government  is  authorized  to 
grant  concessions  of  public  lands  for  30  years;  for  a  longer  period 
up  to  90  years  the  concession  must  also  be  approved  in  Rome. 

Land  values  in  the  colony  are  not  standardized  in  any  definite 
sense  and  the  prices  paid  depend  generally  upon  how  desirous  the 
buyer  is  of  acquiring  any  particular  site.  Sales  of  business  sites 
in  Massaua  and  Asmara  have  averaged  around  5  lire  per  square 


3G 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


meter;  and  some  agricultural  lands  have  exchanged  hands  at  prices 
varying  from  300  to  600  lire  per  acre.  Good  building  sites  for  busi¬ 
ness  purposes  in  the  port  of  Massaua  within  reasonable  distance  of 
the  water  front  and  shipping  district,  are  not  easy  to  obtain,  as  most 
of  them  are  already  in  use.  In  Asmara  and  other  inland  trading 
centers  there  are  plenty  of  building  sites. 

POSTAL,  TELEGRAPH,  AND  TELEPHONE  SERVICE. 

The  Eritrean  postal  system  is  organized  and  operated  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  that  of  the  home  Government.  As  a  part  of  the  Italian 
system  it  belongs,  of  course,  to  the  International  Postal  Union.  The 
postal  service  extends  to  all  parts  of  the  colony,  and  letters  addressed 
to  any  of  the  important  trading  centers  are  assured  reasonably 
prompt  delivery.  Inland  from  Asmara  mail  is  carried  in  post 
wagons,  which,  with  a  relay  system  for  changing  horses  at  frequent 
intervals,  can  cover  more  than  60  miles  a  day. 

Postage  stamps  are  issued  in  the  denominations  of  1,  2,  5,  10,  15, 
20,  25,  40,  45,  50,  and  60  centesimi,  and  in  denominations  of  1,  5,  and 
10  lire.  The  5,  10,  15,  20,  and  25  centesimi  values  are  designed  espe¬ 
cially  for  the  colonial  postage,  and  all  other  values  are  Italian  postage 
stamps  surcharged  “  Colonia  Eritrea.”  Special-delivery  stamps  are 
issued,  and  there  is  a  system  for  registration  of  letters. 

Eritrea  has  a  direct  postal  service  with  Italy,  which  is  generally 
fortnightly,  but  is  occasionally  weekly,  depending  upon  steamers. 
The  time  from  Italy  to  Massaua  is  usually  two  weeks,  and  this  plus 
the  time  across  the  Atlantic  from  the  United  States  to  Italy  will 
give  an  idea  of  the  time  required  for  mail  service  between  the  United 
States  and  Eritrea.  There  is  parcel-post  service  with  Italy  and  to 
all  post  offices  in  the  colony.  The  postal  rates  are  practically  the 
same  as  in  all  countries  that  are  members  of  the  International  Postal 
Union. 

TELEGRAPHS. 

Within  the  colony  of  Eritrea  there  are  nearly  500  miles  of  telegraph 
wires,  which  are  owned  and  operated  in  connection  with  the  postal 
system  by  the  colonial  Government.  The  Government  also  owns  and 
operates  an  additional  length  of  about  660  miles  running  over  the 
frontier  through  Abyssinia  and  connecting  Adis  Abeba  with  Asmara. 
Massaua  has  now  no  direct  cable  connection  with  the  outside  world, 
but  there  is  a  reasonably  efficient  foreign  telegraph  service  via  Sab- 
derat  (on  the  Eritrea-Sudan  frontier),  Kassala,  and  Suakim,  from 
which  latter  place  there  is  a  cable.  There  is  also  an  alternate  service 
via  Sabclerat,  Kassala,  Khartum,  and  Wadi  Haifa.  Assab  communi¬ 
cates  with  Massaua  and  Asmara  by  wireless  telegraph,  and  either 
wireless  station  can  communicate  with  Italy.  Within  the  colony  the 
telegraph  rates  are  1.50  lire  for  12  words,  with  10  centesimi  for  each 
additional  word.  To  Italy  the  rate  is  1.25  lire  per  word  plus  50  per 
cent  added  for  loss  by  exchange. 

TELEPHONES. 

The  colonial  telephone  service,  which  has  mainly  Norwegian  equip¬ 
ment,  reaches  all  provincial  capitals  in  the  colony  and  has  a  total 
mileage  equal  to  that  of  the  telegraph  system.  Also,  like  the  tele- 


ERITREA  :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


37 


graph  system,  the  telephone  system  has  a  wire  over  the  Eritrean 
frontier  through  Abyssinia  to  Adis  Abeba,  a  distance  of  approxi¬ 
mately  660  miles.  In  addition  to  the  colonial  system  there  is  a  some¬ 
what  extensive  mileage  of  provincial  lines  to  connect  various  settle¬ 
ments  within  the  Province  to  the  provincial  capital. 

The  telephone  system  in  Eritrea  is  also  owned  and  operated  by  the 
Government  in  connection  with  the  postal  system.  A  3-minute  con¬ 
versation  to  any  part  of  the  colony  reached  by  the  main  system  costs 
2  lire. 

From  the  foregoing  it  may  be  understood  that  Eritrea  has  satis¬ 
factory  postal,  telegraph,  and  telephone  facilities,  and  in  that  re¬ 
spect  it  is  far  ahead  of  any  other  political  division,  taken  as  a  whole, 
in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district. 

PATENTS,  TRADE-MARKS,  WEIGHTS,  AND  MEASURES. 

Patents  and  trade-marks  may  be  legally  registered  at  Asmara,  the 
capital  of  Eritrea.  To  obtain  registration,  a  duplicate  petition  is 
prepared,  which  should  include  duplicate  copies  of  the  marks  or 
patents  to  be  registered,  and  filed  with  a  fee  amounting  to  42  lire. 
If  registration  is  granted,  that  fact  is  publicly  announced  in  the 
official  bulletins  of  the  Italian  and  Eritrean  Governments.  There 
are  lawyers  practicing  in  the  colonial  capital  who  are  qualified  to 
undertake  registration  of  patents  or  trade-marks  for  interested  firms. 

The  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures  is  established  by  law 
and  is  used  throughout  the  colony.  There  are  no  native  weights  and 
measures  of  importance  which  now  have  any  extended  commercial  use, 
as  Italian  influence  has  brought  about  the  almost  universal  use  of  the 
metric  system.  In  dealing  with  Abyssinian  or  Sudanese  merchants, 
it  is  necessary  sometimes  to  use  native  units  of  weight  or  measure, 
but  this  is  the  only  notable  exception.  The  principal  Abyssinian  unit 
of  weight  is  the  farasula  of  37|  pounds,  and  the  principal  Sudanese 
unit  of  weight  is  the  Egyptian  kantar  of  99  pounds.  Counting  by 
scores  is  used  in  the  skin  trade. 

MARKET  FOR  MANUFACTURED  GOODS. 

The  manufactured  articles  most  in  demand  in  the  Eritrean  market 
are  very  much  the  same  as  those  most  in  demand  in  the  Abyssinian 
market.1  Eritrea  has  only  about  330,000  consumers  within  its  own 
borders,  but  supplies  the  manufactured-goods  wants  of  a  large  part 
of  communities  aggregating  5,000,000  people  in  northern  Abyssinia 
and  on  the  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast.  Foodstuffs,  including  wine,  come 
first  in  the  value  of  the  colony’s  imports.  Cotton  fabrics  and  yarns 
come  next,  and  then  follow  coal,  kerosene,  galvanized  or  corrugated 
iron  sheets  for  building,  common  or  laundry  soap,  general  hardware, 
and  gasoline. 

UNBLEACHED  COTTON  PIECE  GOODS. 

In  common  with  all  other  natives  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial 
district,  the  inhabitants  of  Eritrea  and  the  northern  Abyssinians,  who 
are  supplied  through  the  Eritrean  markets,  find  unbleached  cotton 

1  See  “  Abyssinia,”  by  Addison  E.  Southard,  Special  Consular  Reports  No.  81,  issued  by 
the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce. 


38 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


piece  goods  their  favorite  clothing.  Also  in  Eritrean  markets,  as 
elsewhere  in  the  district,  American  unbleached  cottons  have  for  many 
years  represented  the  standard  of  superiority  in  goods  of  this  class. 
This  standard  was  maintained  in  prewar  days  against  the  strong 
competition  of  the  Italian  and  Austrian  cottons,  and  during  the  war 
against  the  Indian  and  Japanese  grey  cottons.  Whatever  ground 
has  been  gained  by  the  Indian  and  Japanese  goods  has  been  due 
largely  to  the  inability  of  American  manufacturers  to  supply  the 
market  and  to  the  abnormally  high  prices  to  which  American  un¬ 
bleached  cotton  piece  goods  have  risen  in  the  last  few  years. 

American  goods  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  markets  throughout 
the  country,  but  the  prices  are  everywhere  higher  than  for  Japanese 
goods,  which  in  appearance  are  not  inferior  to  the  American.  Indian 
unbleached  piece  goods  have  been  established  in  the  market,  but  even 
at  a  lower  price  the  native  will  not  take  them  when  he  can  get  Amer¬ 
ican  or  Japanese,  mainly  because  in  appearance  the  Indian  goods  are 
so  much  inferior.  The  native  consumer  is  also  aware  of  the  greater 
amount  of  size  in  grey  cotton  piece  goods  other  than  those  of  Ameri¬ 
can  manufacture. 

In  1917,  the  latest  year  for  which  detailed  statistics  are  available 
from  the  Eritrean  Government,  there  were  imported  at  Massaua 
1,953  metric  tons  of  grey  piece  goods,  mostly  sheetings.  The  custom¬ 
house  at  Massaua  does  not  keep  statistics  of  quantities  in  yards  or 
meters  and  only  weights  are  obtainable  to  indicate  the  amount  of 
piece  goods  imported.  Of  the  total  imports,  1,064  metric  tons  are 
credited  to  Italy,  635  tons  to  Aden,  148  tons  to  India,  and  the  balance 
to  smaller  export  markets.  No  imports  are  credited  to  the  United 
States  or  Japan,  but  a  share  of  the  imports  from  Italy,  Aden,  and 
India  were  undoubtedly  of  American  origin,  and  Japanese  goods  are 
also  included  in  the  figures  credited  to  Aden  and  India. 

The  unbleached  piece  goods  (sheetings)  at  present  in  the  Eritrean 
market  are  mostly  within  weights  of  2.50  to  3.75  yards  per  pound. 
In  the  plateau  markets  the  3-yard  weight  is  most  popular  where  ob¬ 
tainable.  The  American  and  Indian  goods  come  in  bales  of  25  pieces 
of  25  yards  each  and  the  Japanese  in  bales  of  30  pieces  of  30  yards 
each.  Widths  in  most  sorts  are  36  inches. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  traders  have  had  to  bring  supplies  from 
whatever  source  they  were  available,  the  native  has  come  to  be  less 
particular  in  regard  to  any  given  weight,  width,  or  length,  a  dis¬ 
crimination  which  he  had  been  permitted  to  develop  to  a  high  degree 
before  the  World  War  interfered  with  supplies.  This  fact  is  particu¬ 
larly  favorable  for  new  competitors,  as  the  Eritrean  distributor  can 
take  advantage  of  the  enforced  suspension  of  discrimination  and 
impose  upon  the  native  the  makes  of  goods  which  promise  most 
profit  to  himself.  This  is  not  a  favorable  circumstance  for  Ameri¬ 
can  goods,  on  which  the  trader  has  in  recent  years  made  a  smaller 
profit  than  on  many  competing  lines,  but  the  discrimination  of  the 
native  consumer  has  demanded  that  he  handle  them  to  an  important 
extent.  The  native  is  slow  to  realize  a  change  in  conditions,  and 
before  he  learns  that  he  may  again  discriminate  and  demand  his 
favorite  “Americani,”  it  is  not  improbable  that  competing  makes  will 
become  more  firmly  established  than  has  heretofore  been  possible. 

Unbleached  shirtings,  drills,  jeans,  chadars,  and  dhoties  are  im¬ 
ported  in  much  smaller  quantities  than  sheetings,  which  have  by 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


39 


far  the  greatest  interest  for  the  American  exporters.  The  Massaua 
import  returns  group  all  unbleached  piece  goods  under  one  heading, 
not  distinguishing  between  the  various  sorts.  Next  to  sheetings  the 
grey  drills  are  probably  the  best  sellers  in  the  Eritrean  market,  and 
these  come  usually  in  40-yard  pieces  of  20  inches  in  width,  weighing 
3  and  3.25  yards  to  the  pound. 


PRICES  AND  BRANDS  OF  UNBLEACHED  COTTONS. 


At  the  time  the  Eritrean  cotton  goods  market  was  investigated 
there  was  considerable  fluctuation  in  exchange,  particularly  as  be¬ 
tween  the  lira  and  the  rupee,  many  importers  paying  in  the  last- 
named  coin.  There  was  also  a  fairly  rapid  rise  in  the  exchange 
value  of  the  American  dollar  and  British  pound  as  against  the  Italian 
lira.  This  caused  a  considerable  variation  in  the  lira  prices  quoted 
to  the  local  distributor  of  piece  goods,  and  these  prices  are  not, 
therefore,  quoted  herein,  as  it  is  considered  that  they  would  be  of 
little  value  and  would  very  likely  be  misleading.  American  ex¬ 
porters  or  manufacturers  especially  interested  can  obtain  current 
quotations  upon  inquiry  addressed  to  the  consulate  at  Aden. 

As  in  the  Abyssinian  market,  the  most  popular  Japanese  sheetings 
upon  the  Eritrean  market  are  the  “  Dragon  ”  brands  of  the  Kanaga- 
fuchi  Spinning  &  Weaving  Co.  In  the  American  line  Pelzer  sheet¬ 
ings  were  well  represented,  and  there  are  some  brands  bearing  the 
special  trade-marks  of  two  Red  Sea  firms  which  have  been  import¬ 
ing  considerable  quantities  of  piece  ^oods  from  the  United  States. 

Cotton  piece  goods  sold  through  Eritrean  markets  to  the  northern 
Abyssinian  trade  are  usually  paid  for  in  Maria  Theresa  trade  dol¬ 
lars,  and  this  feature  further  complicates  the  quoting  of  compara¬ 
tive  prices,  as  the  value  of  the  dollar  goes  up  with  the  price  of  silver, 
and  the  Eritrean  trader  often  finds  it  necessary  to  translate  his 
original  dollar,  pound,  or  rupee  buying  price  into  lire  and  then 
again  into  trade  dollars. 


OPPORTUNITY  FOR  AMERICAN  UNBLEACHED  COTTONS. 


American  unbleached  cottons  have  a  great  advantage  in  the 
Eritrean  market  in  that  their  superior  quality,  clean  color,  and  the 
minimum  amount  of  size  used  in  manufacture  are  known  and  appre¬ 
ciated  by  the  native.  On  the  other  hand,  they  must  pay  an  import 
duty  of  10  per  cent  as  against  a  duty  of  only  1  per  cent  for  cotton 
goods  of  Italian  origin  or  manufacture.  With  the  Japanese  cot¬ 
tons.  which  are  their  principal  competitors,  they  are,  however,  on 
equal  terms  so  far  as  the  customs  import  duty  is  concerned.  It  is 
the  opinion  of  dealers  that  unless  the  Italian  unbleached  cottons 
considerably  improve  over  their  prewar  qualities  the  preferential 
tariff  will  not  injure  the  possibilities  of  the  Eritrean  market  for  a 
continued  and  increasing  sale  of  the  American-made  product. 

In  Eritrea  as  in  other  political  divisions  making  up  the  Red  Sea 
commercial  district,  there  is  need  of  more  direct  attention  from  the 
American  manufacturers  and  exporters  of  cotton  piece  goods.  The 
distribution  of  American  cotton  goods  throughout  this  district  is 
largely  in  the  hands  of  native  importers  of  British  nationality,  and 
while  this  situation  has  been  remedied  to  some  extent  by  the  activity 


40 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


of  the  one  American  importing  firm  established  in  the  Red  Sea  dis¬ 
trict,  there  is  still  plenty  of  room  for  improvement,  which  could  be 
made  if  American  manufacturers  and  exporters  would  realize  that 
in  this  district  they  have  a  market  of  important  future  promise  for 
their  products. 

It  would  seem  that  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district  should  be  con¬ 
sidered  one  of  the  best  and  most  permanent  markets  for  American 
cotton  piece  goods.  The  people  of  this  district  use  cotton  textiles 
almost  exclusively  for  clothing,  and  the  possibility  that  any  other 
sort  of  textile  will  be  substituted  even  in  part  for  cotton  is  decidedly 
remote.  The  wealthy  native  will  wear  some  garments  of  silk,  but 
more  as  a  matter  of  vanity  than  for  any  other  reason,  as  silk  is  in¬ 
ferior  to  cotton  in  both  utility  and  comfort  in  a  hot  climate  like 
that  of  the  Red  Sea  district.  Cotton  textiles  will  find  an  ever- 
increasing  sale  in  this  district,  and  the  share  of  American  goods  will 
depend  upon  whether  the  American  manufacturer  and  exporter  is 
willing  to  devote  to  this  foreign  market  somewhat  the  same  degree 
of  careful  attention  and  aggressiveness  that  he  has  given  and  is 
giving  to  home  markets. 


STYLES  OF  COTTON  CLOTHTNG. 

Ready-made  cotton  clothing  is  not  likely  to  compete  seriously  with 
the  sale  of  cotton  piece  goods,  as  the  native  has  his  own  ideas  as  to 
the  style  in  which  his  garments  shall  be  made,  and  can  afford  to 
indulge  the  preference  of  having  garments  made  up  locally  because 
of  the  skill  and  cheapness  with  which  native  tailors  are'  prepared  to 
serve  him.  Furthermore,  many  of  the  Moslem  tribes  disdain  sewn 
garments  and  use  the  cotton  cloth  in  the  piece,  winding  one  length 
about  the  waist  and  hips  and  draping  another  length  over  their 
shoulders  for  the  protection  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body. 

The  Abyssinian  is  more  particular  about  having  his  cotton  piece 
goods  made  into  garments  of  special  style,  and  most  of  the  native 
population  of  the  Eritrean  plateau  is  Abyssinian  in  all  ways,  except 
that  it  owes  allegiance  to  the  Italian  Government. 

The  Abyssinian  man  wears  usually  a  pair  of  baggy  trousers  reach¬ 
ing  to  the  calf  of  the  leg,  where  they  are  tight.  A  shirt  is  worn,  and 
a  belt  consisting  of  several  yards  of  muslin,  which  is  wrapped  around 
the  waist.  This,  with  a  “  chamma,”  or  a  cotton  shawl,  thrown  about 
the  shoulders,  completes  the  average  Abyssinian  or  Eritrean  high¬ 
lander’s  dress.  The  shirt  is  worn  long  and  outside  the  trousers. 
For  the  poorer  classes  the  trousers  and  shirt  are  made  of  unbleached 
cotton  goods,  often  American.  As  a  man’s  financial  or  official  status 
improves  he  uses  bleached  drill  or  shirting  or  a  fancy  woven  white 
cloth  of  mixed  silk  and  cotton.  A  very  few  of  the  wealthy  men 
sometimes  have  these  garments  made  of  heavy  figured  white  silk. 
Some  wear  a  cotton  undershirt  and  one  or  more  overskirts  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  ordinary  garb,  and  those  who  can  afford  it  have  felt  hats. 
A  silk  cord,  usually  blue,  is  worn  about  the  neck,  and  from  it  is 
suspended  a  Greek  cross  of  precious,  fine,  or  gross  metal,  according 
to  the  owner’s  means.  Shoes  or  socks  are  rarely  worn.  In  the  cold 
weather  a  coarsely  woven,  heavy,  black  woolen  garment,  which  re¬ 
sembles  a  blanket  folded  and  sewn  at  one  end,  leaving  an  opening 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


41 


for  the  hand,  is  worn.  This  garment,  a  sort  of  burnoose,  is  usually 
of  local  production. 

The  women  often  wear  the  same  style  of  shirt  and  trousers  as  the 
men,  with  the  same  muslin  belt;  and  they  place  over  all  a  white 
cotton  smock,  which  is  much  too  long  but  is  drawn  up  and  held  at 
the  waist  by  a  belt  or  sash.  The  sleeves  of  this  smock  are  very 
loose  at  the  top  and  tight  on  the  forearm.  The  cuffs  are  often  em¬ 
broidered.  Women  also  wear  a  gray  felt  hat,  or  one  of  some  other 
color  if  the  gray  is  not  available.  Shoes  are  rarely  worn,  sandals 
occasionally. 

Both  men  and  women  of  the  poorer  classes  have  garments  of  un¬ 
bleached  cotton  sheeting,  shirting,  or  drill,  and  the  wealthier  classes 
use  finer  bleached  cotton  textiles  or  silk. 

BLEACHED  COTTON  TEXTILES. 

In  1917,  the  last  year  for  which  detailed  statistics  are  available, 
only  131  metric  tons  of  bleached  cotton  piece  goods  were  imported 
into  Eritrea.  Shirtings  led  with  considerably  more  than  half  the 
total  imports  of  white  goods.  The  bulk  of  the  imports  came  from 
Italy,  with  Aden  next.  The  goods  from  Aden  were  practically  all 
of  Manchester  origin. 

COLORED,  PRINTED,  OR  DYED  COTTON  GOODS. 

Imports  of  colored,  printed,  or  dyed  cotton  goods  average  a  little 
more  than  100  metric  tons  per  year.  Cotton  prints  of  bright  colors 
have  the  best  demand.  They  are  used  largely  by  the  Moslem 
women  for  dresses.  The  Christian  natives  seem  to  prefer  the  white 
or  uncolored  cottons  for  clothing.  The  important  trade  with  north¬ 
ern  Abyssinia  takes  very  little  of  the  colored,  printed,  or  dyed 
cottons,  and  prospects  are  not,  therefore,  so  promising  for  an  im¬ 
portant  increase  in  the  imports  of  these  goods  as  in  the  case  of  grey 
cottons.  Italy  supplies  the  bulk  of  the  imports  of  these  colored 
goods,  Aden  follows  with  Manchester  cottons,  and  India  conies  third. 

COTTON  SHAWLS  AND  YARNS. 

The  natives  of  the  Eritrean  plateau  dress  very  much  as  do  their 
Abyssinian  cousins  and,  as  stated  in  a  preceding  paragraph,  an  im¬ 
portant  article  of  their  dress  is  a  cotton  shawl  known  as  “  chamma.” 
These  shawls  come  in  14  and  1G  yard  lengths  usually,  26  to  31  inches 
wide,  and  the  ordinary  grades  are  practically  a  cotton  sheeting  or 
drill  of  coarser  or  softer  weave,  either  bleached  or  unbleached,  and 
with  a  red,  black,  or  green  stripe  woven  into  the  ends  and  sometimes 
into  the  sides  of  the  piece.  The  14  or  16  yard  lengths  are  usually 
divided  into  quarters  and  the  quarter  piece  worn  about  the  shoulders. 
For  the  wealthier  natives  there  is  a  finer  imported  product,  or  the 
much-prized  hand-woven  “  chamma,”  which  is  produced  locally  from 
cotton  grown  in  the  country  and  mixed  with  imported  yarn.  This 
shawl  often  has  varicolored  silk  threads  woven  into  the  borders  and 
is  very  soft  and  fine.  This  garment  of  local  production  brings  a 
much  higher  price  than  even  the  best  imported  article. 


42 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


Cotton  yarns  are  imported  chiefly  for  use  in  connection  with  the 
home  weaving  of  shawls  and  a  few  other  textile  articles.  In  1917 
there  were  imported  221.4  metric  tons  of  grey  or  unbleached  yarns, 
12  tons  of  colored  yarns,  and  4.1  tons  of  bleached  yarns.  Italy  sup¬ 
plied  the  bulk  of  these  quantities.  Imported  yarns  are  usually  used 
for  the  warp  and  homemade  yarns  for  the  weft  in  the  weaving  that 
the  natives  do  in  their  homes.  The  grey  yarns,  which  are  imported 
in  greatest  quantity,  are  preferred  in  size  No.  20  single,  in  10-pound 
packages,  although,  owing  to  the  exigencies  of  the  war  period,  the 
native  consumer  has  become  accustomed  to  taking  what  he  can  get 
in  the  way  of  yarns. 


KEROSENE  AND  GASOLINE. 

Eritrea  is  becoming  an  important  market  for  petroleum  products 
and  consumption  increases  yearly.  Although  the  two  principal  towns 
in  the  colony,  Massaua  and  Asmara,  have  electric  light,  all  other  dis¬ 
tricts  depend  upon  kerosene  for  lighting  purposes.  Lanterns  are 
universally  carried  at  night,  and  as  the  natives  improve  their  eco¬ 
nomic  condition,  a  process  always  going  on,  they  provide  them¬ 
selves  with  increased  numbers  of  lamps  and  lanterns.  There  is  also 
a  growing  use  of  street  lights  in  the  towns  and  settlements  which 
require  kerosene.  More  kerosene  will  be  needed  for  stationary  en- 

fines,  the  number  of  which  is  increasing.  Of  1,156.2  metric  tons  of 
erosene  imported  at  Massaua  in  1917,  778.7  tons  came  directly  from 
the  United  States.  The  balance  of  the  imports  was  credited  to  Italy 
and  Aden,  but  represented  considerable  quantities  of  the  American 
product. 

The  use  of  motor  vehicles  in  Eritrea  has  to  date  been  largely  con¬ 
fined  to  the  Government,  which  uses  cars  and  trucks  of  a  well-known 
Italian  make.  There  is  developing  a  desire  among  the  many  prosper¬ 
ous  residents  of  the  colony  to  own  motor  cars,  and  if  it  were  not  for 
the  exchange  situation  a  number  of  orders  would  have  been  placed 
for  certain  popular  American  makes.  Eritrea  has  a  splendid  system 
of  roads  completed  or  under  construction,  and  there  is  every  incentive 
to  the  use  of  motor  cars.  When  the  great  difference  in  exchange 
against  the  lira  is  reduced  there  will  be  sale  for  a  number  of  motor 
cars  and  trucks.  Gasoline  imports  will  naturally  increase  over  the 
319.3  metric  tons  imported  in  1917,  of  which  quantity  257.2  tons  came 
directly  from  the  United  States. 

GENERAL  HARDWARE. 

General  hardware  is  one  of  the  leading  items  in  the  import  trade 
of  Eritrea.  Builders’  hardware,  such  as  locks,  bolts,  staples,  hinges, 
hasps,  screws,  nails,  etc.,  make  up  a  considerable  share  of  the  total 
imports.  As  natives  are  the  best  customers  for  these  articles,  the 
cheaper  qualities  best  suit  the  market.  Every  native  who  can  alford 
it  has  one  or  more  wooden  boxes  or  trunks,  which  are  usually  home¬ 
made,  and  for  which  he  requires  square  hinges  of  the  smaller  sizes, 
nails,  screws,  hasps  and  staples,  and  pieces  of  metal  fashioned  in 
various  styles  for  covering  the  corners  and  otherwise  protecting  and 
strengthening  the  joined  edges  of  the  box.  To  complete  the  box  there 
must  be  a  padlock,  and  this  article  has  a  good  sale. 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


43 


Four,  six,  and  eight-inch  iron  triangle  hinges  are  widely  used  for 
doors  and  windows  in  native  houses,  which  may  have  no  other  iron 
or  hardware  used  in  their  construction,  except  the  hasps,  staples,  or 
bolts  on  the  same  doors  and  windows.  Some  builders’  hardware  of 
first-class  quality  is  sold  to  Europeans  and  wealthier  natives  for  the 
houses  which  they  are  constructing  in  increasing  numbers. 

There  is  in  the  Eritrean  market  a  good  deal  of  builders’  hardware 
of  American  origin,  purchased  recently  in  place  of  the  cheap  Ger¬ 
man  and  Austrian  goods  that  dominated  the  market  before  the  war. 
American  padlocks  are  almost  exclusively  sold  at  present.  These 
have  been  imported  largely  through  one  of  the  leading  firms  in 
Eritrea  which  has  an  office  in  New  York. 

Hammers,  saws,  hand  planes,  and  similar  simple  building  tools  are 
also  in  demand  and  are  in  the  stock  of  all  the  larger  general  stores 
that  carry  hardware  lines.  There  are  no  firms  engaged  exclusively 
in  the  hardware  trade;  the  volume  of  business  in  the  undeveloped 
territories  of  the  Red  Sea  comihercial  district  is  not  sufficient  to  war¬ 
rant  specializing  in  particular  lines,  and  most  of  the  principal  im¬ 
porters  do  a  general  merchandising  business,  both  retail  and  whole¬ 
sale. 

ENAMELED  IRONWARE. 

Enameled  ironware  is  very  generally  used  by  both  Europeans 
and  natives  in  the  territory  covered  by  Eritrean  trade.  It  is  coming 
into  more  general  use  among  the  natives  each  year,  and  the  market 
for  this  product  is  therefore  one  of  substantial  interest  to  Ameri¬ 
can  manufacturers,  if  they  can  compete  in  the  matter  of  prices. 
There  are  at  present  no  established  prices  which  can  be  given  for 
the  guidance  of  American  trade,  as  the  war  greatly  interfered  with 
old  sources  of  supply,  principally  Austria,  and  has  developed  new 
sources,  principally  Japan;  and  the  ware  coming  on  the  market  has 
been  priced  according  to  the  distributor’s  idea  of  how  much  he  could 
get  rather  than  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  competition.  Competitive 
conditions  are  now  returning  and  will  soon  result  in  the  establishing 
of  standard  prices  that  will  be  of  value  in  gauging  the  possibilities 
of  the  market.  The  Aden  consulate  will,  upon  request,  keep  in¬ 
terested  United  States  manufacturers  in  touch  with  such  develop¬ 
ments. 

The  best  enameled  ironware  sold  to  any  extent  in  this  market  has 
been  the  Austrian.  Neither  the  English  nor  German  lines,  which 
competed  with  the  Austrian,  were  equal  to  it  in  finish,  although  they 
were  probably  equal  in  wearing  quality.  Japanese  ware  succeeded 
the  Austrian  and  German,  but  it  has  neither  the  finish  nor  the 
wearing  quality  of  the  Austrian  ware.  The  native  judges  a  great 
deal  by  appearance,  and  the  gloss  and  finish  of  enameled  ware  offered 
in  this  market  is  therefore  an  important  consideration. 

The  most  popular  articles  of  enameled  ware  are  teakettles  of  1 
quart  to  2  gallons  capacity;  saucepans  8  to  20  inches  wide  and  4  to  6 
inches  deep ;  kettles  with  and  without  lids  and  of  2  to  8  quarts  ca¬ 
pacity;  pint  and  quart  cups  with  one  handle;  small  bowls  with  or 
without  foot;  plates;  and  spoons.  Jugs,  pitchers,  and  various  other 
articles  are  also  sold,  but  the  demand  is  not  so  great  as  for  the  articles 
named.  In  colors  blue  seems  to  be  most  popular,  but  white  and 


44 


ERITREA  :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


green  also  meet  with  favor.  The  more  vivid  the  coloring  the  better 
pleased  is  the  native  purchaser. 

Sizes  are  indicated  in  the  metric  system  for  the  Eritrean  and  Abys¬ 
sinian  market,  but  owing  to  the  indifference  of  the  average  native 
purchaser  as  to  exact  measures  he  would  probably  take  with  equal 
readiness  either  a  quart  or  a  liter  size  cup,  whichever  looked  bigger 
to  him. 

Trade-marks  are  important,  as  the  Austrian  ware,  which  has  been 
the  standard,  was  identified  by  such  marks  as  a  gun,  a  fez,  a  bugle, 
a  triangle,  a  star,  etc.,  distinguishing  various  grades  and  qualities. 
The  picture  or  the  mark  appeals  to  the  native  more  than  an  inscrip¬ 
tion,  which  he  would  probably  not  be  able  to  read.  The  Eritrean 
customs  statistics  do  not  segregate  enameled  ironware  imports,  and 
it  is  not  therefore  possible  to  give  figures  as  to  the  quantities  imported, 
but  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  market  will  take  under  present  con¬ 
ditions  as  much  as  $100,000  worth  per  annum. 

IRON  AND  STEEL  SHEETS,  I5ARS,  AND  RODS. 

Corrugated  and  galvanized  iron  sheets  are  most  widely  used  for 
roofing  material  in  the  construction  of  strong  buildings  in  the  colony 
of  Eritrea,  and  in  some  instances  are  used  for  the  sides  of  buildings  of 
simple  architecture  that  are  intended  for  other  than  residence  pur¬ 
poses.  The  use  of  galvanized  sheets  is  increasing  each  year,  and 
the  imports  during  1017  amounted  to  nearly  300  metric  tons.  Prac¬ 
tically  the  entire  amount  was  of  American  origin.  Supplies  avail¬ 
able  at  present  are  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  demand  for  construction 
work  delayed  by  the  war. 

In  1917  the  imports  of  iron  and  steel  bars  amounted  to  86.1  metric 
tons.  There  is  a  substantial  and  steady  demand  for  iron  and  steel 
bars  or  rods,  which  serve  a  variety  of  uses,  the  most  important  of 
which  is  for  the  work  of  native  blacksmiths  who  make  lance  heads, 
plow  points,  pointed  sheaths  for  wooden  forks  used  in  cultivation, 
horseshoes,  knives,  etc.  Old  files  are  in  demand  for  use  in  making- 
knives  and  other  small  articles  where  hard  and  well-tempered  steel 
is  needed.  Iron  and  steel  bars  are  also  in  demand  for  the  increasing 
number  of  small  machine  shops  connected  with  the  railroad,  mining, 
and  other  industries  of  the  colony. 

HURRICANE  LANTERNS. 

The  trade  in  lanterns  has  a  substantial  basis,  because  every  native 
who  can  afford  it  owns  a  lantern  for  his  own  use  and  one  or  more 
for  the  use  of  other  members  of  his  family.  The  hurricane  lan¬ 
tern  of  a  well-known  American  make  is  in  great  favor  in  Eritrea  and 
in  all  parts  of  this  district.  Only  lanterns  of  American  make  were 
noted  on  sale  in  the  various  retail  shops  inspected.  In  the  settlements 
a  lantern  is  usually  carried  by  everyone  who  goes  out  at  night. 

In  consigning  lanterns  to  the  Eritrean  market  the  exporter  should 
arrange  also  to  supply  the  glass  chimneys  made  for  use  in  them. 
The  native  dealer  has  during  the  war  been  unable  to  secure  chim¬ 
neys  from  America  and  has  purchased  Japanese  chimneys  made 
to  fit  the  American  lantern.  For  some  reason  these  chimneys  do 
not  last  as  well  as  the  American-made  chimney,  and  the  reputation 


ERITREA  !  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


45 


of  the  lantern  has  suffered  somewhat  because  the  native  does  not 
understand  that  he  is  getting  other  than  the  proper  chimney,  and  as 
the  chimney  he  does  get  is  easily  broken  he  concludes  that  the 
quality  of  a  lantern  which  he  has  always  found  satisfactory  has  de¬ 
teriorated. 

MISCELLANEOUS  HARDWARE  ITEMS. 

The  various  hardware  items  already  discussed  are  those  which 
hold  most  interest  for  American  commerce.  Other  items  in  which 
the  trade  is  less  important  are  cutlery,  such  as  large  clasp  knives 
with  5  or  6  inch  blades  and  a  ring  by  which  the  knife  can  be 
fastened  to  the  owner's  belt ;  galvanized  iron  buckets  and  pans ; 
cheap  shovels  and  spades;  axes  and  hatchets;  and  wire  of  various 
sorts.  The  primary  consideration  in  articles  of  these  classes  is  that 
they  be  sufficiently  cheap  to  meet  the  somewhat  limited  purchas¬ 
ing  power  of  the  native  customer,  which  was  formerly  catered  to 
by  German  and  Austrian  manufacturers. 

SEWING  MACHINES. 

Sewing  machines  at  moderate  prices,  ranging  from  $15  to  $30, 
meet  with  an  increasing  demand  as  the  outlying  native  settlements 
are  brought  into  closer  touch  with  the  main  trading  centers.  One 
American  sewing  machine  with  an  international  reputation  is  found 
in  the  Eritrean  market,  but  it  is  a  little  too  expensive  to  meet  with 
the  greatest  success.  Some  cheaper  American  sewing  machines  have 
been  imported  at  Aden,  and  seem  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
native  trade  as  well  as  did  the  prewar  German  machine  which  sold 
widely  in  Red  Sea  markets.  None  of  these  cheaper  American  ma¬ 
chines  was  found  in  Eritrean  shops. 

FACTORY  AND  OTHER  INDUSTRIAL  MACHINERY. 

Agricultural  machinery  is  not  yet  established  as  a  regular  trade 
item.  The  colonial  Government  is,  however,  making  all  possible 
efforts  to  develop  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  colony  and  an  in¬ 
creasing  interest  is  taken  in  the  possibilities  of  growing  grain  ac¬ 
cording  to  modern  ideas,  in  cotton  planting,  and  in  sisal  hemp  grow¬ 
ing.  There  will  be  sale  for  the  simpler  forms  of  cultivating  and 
planting  machinery  and  for  a  few  thrashing  machines.  The  agri¬ 
cultural  possibilities  of  the  colony  are  not,  however,  great  enough 
to  develop  a  really  important  market  for  agricultural  machinery. 
Much  of  the  land  is  desert,  semidesert,  or  too  rocky  and  broken  for 
agriculture.  The  limited  amount  of  cultivable  land  needs  irrigation 
in  most  places. 

There  are  possibilities  for  the  sale  of  a  limited  amount  of  flour¬ 
milling  machinery  for  mills  of  small  capacity.  Wheat,  barley,  mil¬ 
let,  and  durra  are  the  principal  grains  milled. 

The  need  for  electrical  machinery  in  connection  witli  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  water  power  at  Asmara  has  been  mentioned  in  previous 
pages  of  this  report,  but  there  is  naturally  a  definite  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  colonial  Government  to  secure  equipment  of  Italian  man¬ 
ufacture  if  possible. 

Road-building  machinery  would  be  useful  in  the  comparatively  ex¬ 
tensive  system  of  "road  construction  now  under  way  in  the  colony, 


46 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


but  as  the  Government  can  employ  a  good  supply  of  cheap  native 
labor,  including  soldiers  and  prisoners,  the  need  for  any  considerable 
amount  of  labor-saving  construction  machinery  has  not  been  suffi¬ 
ciently  apparent  to  bring  about  its  purchase  from  limited  funds 
that  are  badly  needed  in  other  fields  of  Government  activity.  There 
has  so  far  been  no  development  of  private  road  building. 

There  is  one  meat-packing  plant  at  Asmara,  which  is  at  present 
fully  equipped  with  machinery,  including  some  American  machines 
for  the  making  of  tin  cans.  This  plant  is  expanding  and  will  in  the 
near  future  be  replacing  some  of  its  older  and  less  useful  mechanical 
equipment. 

The  button  factory  at  Keren  is  also  expanding  and  will  be  needing 
new  machinery  from  time  to  time.  In  connection  with  this  factory 
the  owners  intend  to  install  machinery  for  the  extraction  of  oil  from 
the  oil-bearing  seeds  and  grains  that  grow  in  Eritrea  and  the  ad¬ 
jacent  Abyssinian  districts. 

Ground  has  been  broken  for  the  construction  of  fish-packing  plants 
at  Massaua  and  Assab,  but  the  initial  lot  of  machinery  for  these  two 
plants  has  already  been  arranged  for. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  there  are  some  opportunities  for  the  sale 
of  factory  machinery  in  Eritrea,  but  such  sales  would  depend  largely 
upon  the  presence  in  the  colony  of  an  energetic  representative  of  the 
machinery  manufacturer  or  exporter  who  could  get  in  touch  with  and 
follow  up  prospects. 

The  sale  of  well-boring  machinery  is  a  possibility,  as  the  colonial 
Government  recognizes  that  one  of  the  first  steps  in  the  economic 
development  of  the  colony  is  the  tapping  of  possible  underground 
water  supplies.  American  machinery  will  probably  be  considered 
in  this  connection,  because  of  its  well-known  superiority,  and  the 
American  consular  representative  in  the  Red  Sea  district  will  keep 
in  touch  with  the  situation  for  advance  information  useful  to  Ameri¬ 
can  manufacturers  of  such  machinery. 

When  funds  permit  the  colonial  Government  will  probably 
purchase  three  of  four  new  traveling  cranes  to  replace  the  old  ones 
now  in  use  on  the  quay  at  Massaua.  Those  at  present  in  use  are  of 
3-ton  capacity,  of  English  make,  and  are  operated  by  steam.  They 
are  not  highly  efficient. 

Pumping  machinery  of  the  smaller  and  simpler  models  will  be 
needed  in  connection  with  the  development  of  irrigation  projects. 
In  many  of  the  river  valleys  the  stream  bed  is  dry  for  several  months 
of  the  year  and  shallow  wells  are  dug  to  reach  the  water,  which  is 
always  found  a  few  feet  below,  and  which  is  used  to  irrigate  fertile 
tracts  of  land  found  at  various  places  throughout  the  length  of  most 
of  the  valleys.  Digging  th  :se  wells  with  pick  and  shovel  and  draw¬ 
ing  the  water  bv  buckets  or  by  hand  pumps  is  not  satisfactory,  but 
that  is  the  practice  at  present  followed. 

Mining  machinery  is  not  likely  to  be  in  demand  in  the  near  future, 
as  there  are  now  in  the  colony  at  least  three  sets  of  machinery  at  as 
many  different  gold  mines  which  are  closed  down  because  of  insuffi¬ 
cient  yield  of  metal  to  warrant  their  continued  operation. 

Wood-working  machinery  is  not  likely  to  have  an  important  de¬ 
mand  in  a  country  like  Eritrea,  which  lias  few  forests,  and  those  few 
yielding  a  small  amount  of  lumber.  The  Government  is  encourag¬ 
ing  the  development  of  furniture  and  cabinet  making  from  the  wild 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


47 


olive  wood,  which  is  admirably  suited  for  the  work,  but  the  possibili¬ 
ties  are  comparatively  limited. 

A  few  fiber-stripping  machines  will  be  required  by  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  sisal  hemp  industry,  which  at  present  appears  to  be  per¬ 
manently  established. 

Although  the  immediate  possibilities  for  factory  or  other  indus¬ 
trial  machinery  in  Eritrea  are  not  important,  they  are  worth  the 
consideration  of  a  firm  which  has  other  lines  to  introduce.  There 
is  a  progressive  spirit  in  the  colony  that  is  bound  to  lead  to  further 
industrial  development  and  to  the  creating  of  demands  for  the  lines 
of  machinery  indicated  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs. 

LAUNDRY  AND  TOILET  SOAPS. 

Common  or  laundry  soap  is  an  important  article  of  trade  in  the 
colony.  Being  a  commodity  universally  used,  there  is  an  increas¬ 
ingly  important  consumption.  The  imports  of  common  soap  in  1917 
amounted  to  457.8  metric  tons,  of  which  amount  438  tons  are  cred¬ 
ited  to  Italy  in  the  import  returns,  7.5  tons  to  France,  and  the  balance 
to  Aden  and  Egypt.  It  is  believed  that  an  appreciable  share  of  the 
amount  credited  to  Italy  consisted  of  French  soap,  which  has  long 
been  the  favorite  laundry  soap  in  the  Bed  Sea  district,  and  which  is 
demanded  by  the  native  consumer  if  he  thinks  he  can  get  it. 

The  French  soap,  which  is  the  standard  in  this  district,  comes  in 
square  blocks  weighing  four  to  the  kilo  (2.2046  pounds).  It  is  of  a 
light  yellow  color  when  reasonably  fresh,  and  quite  bright  and  at¬ 
tractive  in  appearance,  thus  appealing  to  the  native’s  idea  of  get¬ 
ting  something  pretty  as  well  as  useful  for  his  money.  These  blocks 
measure  approximately  2|  by  2|  inches,  are  hard,  and  wear  well  in 
use.  The  competing  Bnglish  and  American  soaps  in  the  market  have 
imitated  the  size  and  weight  of  the  French  soap,  but  do  not  seem  to 
be  as  hard,  and  they  soften  and  wear  away  too  quickly  in  the  hands 
of  the  native  user.  Samples  of  the  most  popular  laundry  soaps  sold 
in  Eritrea  and  all  the  Bed  Sea  district  can  be  procured  through  the 
American  consulate  at  Aden  by  interested  manufacturers. 

Soap  made  for  this  trade,  in  addition  to  following  the  established 
shape,  size,  and  weight,  should  bear  a  distinctive  trade-mark,  prefer¬ 
ably  a  fruit,  a  flower,  or  a  tree,  as  it  attracts  the  native  and  distin¬ 
guishes  one  brand  from  another.  The  best  selling  French  soap  has 
an  apple  for  a  trade-mark.  There  should  be  nothing  in  the  mark 
to  suggest  that  the  soap  contains  animal  fat  or  grease,  as  the  Mo¬ 
hammedan  natives,  who  are  in  the  majority  in  this  district,  are  preju¬ 
diced  against  soaps  made  from  other  than  vegetable  oils  or  fats, 
although  they  doubtless  unknowingly  use  much  that  contains  animal 
grease.  American  soaps  can,  it  is  believed,  be  made  to  compete  in  the 
Eritrean  trade. 

Only  10.6  tons  of  toilet  soaps,  classified  as  such,  were  imported 
for  the  Eritrean  market  in  1917,  and  9.5  tons  of  this  amount  were 
credited  to  Egypt  in  the  import  returns.  Highly  perfumed  toilet 
soap  sells  best. 

OTHER  MANUFACTURED  GOODS. 

The  manufactured  goods  discussed  under  separate  headings  in  the 
foregoing  paragraphs  are  those  in  which  American  manufacturers 
or  exporters  would  find  the  most  profitable  interest.  There  are,  how- 


48 


ERITREA :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


ever,  a  number  of  articles  in  which  the  trade  is  still  comparatively 
small  that  may  eventually  be  of  interest  to  American  trade,  and 
these  are  referred  to  in  the  following  paragraphs.  (The  import 
figures  given  are  for  the  calendar  year  1917,  the  latest  year  for  which 
detailed  import  statistics  are  available.) 

Imports  of  table  wines  in  bulk  amounted  to  182,797  wine  gallons, 
and  in  addition  there  were  203,475  bottles  of  wine.  Beer  imports 
amounted  to  10,000  dozen  bottles.  These  beverages,  largely  for  the 
use  of  the  Italian  population  of  the  colony,  constitute  a  noticeable  per¬ 
centage  of  the  value  of  the  total  annual  imports. 

Confectionery  of  various  sorts  was  imported  in  the  amount  of  38.7 
tons,  mainly  from  Italy  and  Egypt. 

Tobacco  in  an  unmanufactured  state  came  mainly  from  India  in 
Ihe  amount  of  167.2  metric  tons.  This  tobacco  is  used  largely  in 
the  local  cigarette  industry,  which  is  increasing  in  importance,  and 
for  export  to  the  Arabian  Bed  Sea  coast. 

Naptha  line  for  use  in  packing  hides  and  skins  came  maily  from 
the  United  States,  and  the  amount  imported  was  17.6  metric  tons. 
There  is  an  increasing  consumption  of  this  commodity  in  the  hide 
and  skin  business. 

Candles  are  imported  from  Italy,  but  the  bulk  of  the  supply  is 
evidently  not  of  Italian  manufacture,  as  the  local  shops  offer  for  sale 
candles  manufactured  in  Burma,  England,  France,  and  Holland. 
Imports  of  stearin  candles  amount  to  27.5  metric  tons,  and  of  paraffin 
candles  to  23.5  metric  tons.  Judging  from  the  experience  of  Aden 
importers,  candles  of  American  manufacture  are  too  costly  to  com¬ 
pete  with  the  Burmese  candle,  which  is  the  best  seller  in  the  Red 
Sea  commercial  district. 

Door  and  window  frames  were  imported  from  the  United  States 
in  1917  in  the  amount  of  2.8  tons.  These  frames  were  used  in  build¬ 
ing  construction  at  Asmara,  and  it  is  probable  that  there  will  be  an 
increasing  demand  for  this  commodity  from  the  United  States. 

Letter  paper  of  medium  and  cheap  quality  sells  well,  and  Italy 
supplied  4.8  tons  to  the  Eritrean  market  in  1917.  Cheap  American 
writing  papers  could  compete  in  this  market. 

Shoes  are  becoming  more  important  in  the  trade  of  the  colony. 
In  1917  there  were  imported  7,873  pairs  of  leather  shoes  from  Italy 
and  Egypt,  but  not  all  of  Italian  or  Egyptian  manufacture.  Cloth 
shoes  with  either  leather  or  rubber  soles  were  imported  in  the  amount 
of  1,916  pairs.  Italy  and  Egypt  are  also  credited  with  supplying  the 
shoes  of  this  grade.  Heavy  American  shoes  of  medium  prices,  in  tan 
shades,  would  find  favor  in  this  market.  A  few  have  been  sold. 

Watches  in  nickel  or  similar  base-metal  cases  were  imported  to 
the  number  of  1,804  from  Italy.  The  sale  of  these  articles  is  increas¬ 
ing  yearly  as  the  natives  become  better  able  to  buy  more  than  the 
absolute  necessities  of  life. 

Automobiles  of  Italian  or  French  make  were  imported  to  the 
number  of  29.  Five  motor  cycles  were  also  imported.  The  Eritrean 
market  for  motor  cars  and  cycles  is  quite  promising,  owing  to  the 
extent  of  good  roads  completed  or  under  construction  by  the  colonial 
Government.  Tires  for  motor  cars  and  cycles  were  imported  from 
Italy  in  the  amount  of  9  metric  tons. 

Fruits  and  vegetables  in  tin  cans  were  imported  in  the  quantity 
of  66.9  metric  tons.  Imports  of  these  commodities  are  practically 


ERITREA :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


49 


all  credited  to  Italy,  but  the  provision  shops  in  Eritrea  offer  for  sale 
more  American  than  any  other  canned  fruits. 

Milk,  condensed,  is  imported  mainly  from  Italy.  In  1917  the  im¬ 
ports  amounted  to  23.7  tons  without  sugar  and  to  6.8  tons  with 
sugar.  An  attempt  is  being  made  to  develop  a  local  dairying  indus¬ 
try,  and  it  does  not  seem  probable  that  the  imports  of  condensed 
milk  will  increase  greatly,  although  the  market  will  always  take  an 
appreciable  amount. 

Felt  hats  to  the  number  of  6,923  were  imported  from  Italy.  The 
natives  of  the  plateau,  both  men  and  women,  wear  felt  hats,  as  do 
their  Abyssinian  neighbors,  and  there  is  an  established  trade  in  them. 
A  popular  quality  of  felt  hat  for  the  native  trade  retails  in  Eritrea 
for  the  equivalent  of  $1.50,  United  States  currency. 

Silk  thread  in  the  amount  of  521  kilos  was  imported  from  India 
and  the  Sudan,  or  from  India  via  Aden.  There  is  a  substantial  de¬ 
mand  for  silk  thread  on  the  part  of  the  natives,  who  use  it  to  a  con¬ 
siderable  extent  in  their  home-weaving  industry. 

Owing  to  the  abnormal  exchange  situation,  local  values  for  im¬ 
ported  manufactured  goods  are  not  accurate  for  purposes  of  com¬ 
parison,  and  quantities  only  have  been  given.  For  the  same  reason 
it  is  not  practicable  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  retail  prices  at  this 
time,  and  quotations  are  not  generally  given  for  fear  they  would  be 
misleading.  More  detailed  information  on  this  subject  may  be  ob¬ 
tained  from  the  Aden  consulate  by  interested  inquirers. 

PRODUCTS  OF  ERITREAN  MANUFACTURE. 

The  manufactured  products  of  Eritrea  are  greater  in  number  and 
variety  than  those  of  any  other  political  division  of  the  Red  Sea 
commercial  district.  Canned  meats,  beef  extract,  fish,  salt,  vegetable- 
ivory  buttons,  fiber  ropes,  and  coarse  mattings  are  the  principal  in¬ 
dustrial  products  of  Eritrea.  All  of  these,  except  the  fiber  ropes  and 
coarse  mattings,  have  been  discussed  in  detail  in  foregoing  pages  of 
this  report.  These  two  products  are  the  output  of  home  industries 
of  the  natives,  who  use  palm  and  other  vegetable  fibers  in  their 
manufacture.  The  ropes  find  use  largely  in  the  rigging  of  native 
sailing  dhows  and  the  mattings  are  used  for  baling  skins  and  other 
natural  products  of  the  district.  The  ropes  and  mattings  are  ex¬ 
ported  to  other  Red  Sea  ports  and  places,  but  usually  not  to  foreign 
markets.  The  Assab  district  leads  in  these  two  products. 

BULK  FOODSTUFFS. 

Eritrean  agriculture  does  not  produce  enough  food  for  the  use  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  colony,  and  sugar,  olive  oil,  grains,  and  Hour 
are  imported  in  comparatively  important  quantities.  Durra  is  the 
leading  grain  and  6,304.1  metric  tons  were  imported  in  1917.  Wheat 
flour  was  imported  in  the  quantity  of  1,228.2  tons.  The  most  im¬ 
portant  amounts  of  durra  come  from  the  Arabian  Red  Sea  Province 
of  Asir  and  from  the  Sudan.  Flour  comes  in  greatest  quantity  from 
India.  Sugar  imports  in  1917  from  Aden,  Egypt,  Italy,  and  India 
amounted  to  415.5  tons.  The  colonial  Government  is  devoting  much 
attention  to  making  the  colony  self-supporting  in  grain  production 
at  least,  but  it  will  likely  be  some  years  before  that  object  is  attained. 


50 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


IMPORT  TRADE. 

In  normal  years  two-thirds  of  the  total  trade  of  Eritrea  consists 
of  imports.  "This  gives  an  adverse  trade  balance,  largely  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  colony  must  import  large  quantities  of  foodstuffs 
to  make  up  the  deficit  in  local  production  and  practically  all  manu¬ 
factured  goods  consumed.  There  are  two  ports  of  entry,  Massaua 
and  Assab,  but  the  former  is  by  far  the  most  important.  The  entire 
trade  of  the  colony  may  be  said  to  pass  through  Massaua.  Imports 
go  from  Massaua  over  the  railroad  to  Asmara  for  distribution,  from 
which  place  radiate  several  roads  suitable  for  wheeled  traffic  and 
caravan  routes  reaching  to  inland  trading  centers,  extending  on  the 
west  to  the  Sudan  frontier  and  on  the  south  to  the  Abyssinian 
frontier.  Imports  into  Eritrea  over  these  two  frontiers  are  col¬ 
lected  at  Asmara.  They  consist  largely  of  hides,  skins,  and  other 
natural  products  received  in  exchange  for  manufactured  goods  or 
foodstuffs,  which  are  exported  from  the  country  via  Massaua. 

INLAND  TRADE  ROUTES. 

From  Asmara  the  distributing  center  for  the  colony’s  import  trade 
and  the  collecting  center  for  its  export  trade,  the  principal  trade 
route  extends  south  by  east  along  the  plateau  via  Saganieti,  Adi 
Caieh,  Senafe,  and  Fort  Dabormida  on  the  frontier  into  Abyssinia, 
and  then  south  to  the  important  Abyssinian  trading  centers  at  Ma- 
calle  and  Dessie.  From  Asmara  to  the  frontier  the  road  is  about 
170  miles  long  and  is  suitable  for  wheeled  traffic  its  entire  length. 
Beyond  the  frontier  there  exist  only  caravan  routes.  From  Asmara 
a  second  route  runs  almost  due  south  via  Adi  Ugri  and  Adi  Quala 
to  Adua  in  Abyssinia.  Adua  is  the  trading  center  for  a  compara¬ 
tively  large  and  rich  district  in  Abyssinia.  From  Asmara  to  Adi 
Quala,  a  distance  of  about  35  miles,  this  route  is  suitable  for  wheeled 
traffic.  Beyond  Adi  Quala  it  becomes  a  caravan  route. 

From  Asmara  northeast  along  the  plateau  to  Keren,  and  thence 
westward  via  Agordat  and  Sabderat  on  the  frontier  is  another  im¬ 
portant  trade  route,  which  runs  to  Kassala  in  the  Sudan.  From 
Asmara  to  Agordat,  a  distance  of  about  115  miles,  the  road  is  suit¬ 
able  for  wheeled  traffic,  beyond  which  point  and  on  to  the  Sudan 
frontier  it  becomes  a  caravan  route.  Another  caravan  route  branches 
off  from  Agordat  to  the  south  and  reaches  the  Abyssinian  frontier 
via  Barentu.  From  Barentu  the  important  trading  center  of  Gon- 
dar,  just  north  of  Lake  Tsana  in  Abyssinia,  is  reached.  Gondar  has 
very  important  commercial  possibilities,  but  development  of  trade 
with  Eritrea  is  slow  because  the  entire  distance  to  Agordat  is  covered 
only  by  caravan. 

The  Eritrean  Government  has  in  mind  the  almost  inestimable  im¬ 
portance  to  the  future  commercial  development  of  the  colony  of  a 
railroad  over  the  Agordat-Barentu-Gondar  route,  but  instead  of 
continuing  due  south  from  Barentu  as  does  the  caravan  route  the 
railroad  will  go  by  way  of  Elaghim  in  the  southwestern  corner  of 
the  colony.  This  digression  is  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the  more 
mountainous  country  of  the  plateau,  through  which  railroad  build¬ 
ing  would  be  more  difficult,  and  to  reach  a  much  greater  area  of 
highly  productive  territory,  including  large  areas  suitable  for  cotton 
cultivation  in  the  Atbara  or  Black  Nile  district. 


ERITREA  :  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


51 


The  three  trade  routes  into  Abyssinia  are  the  most  important  and 
have  the  greatest  promise  for  future  development.  The  route  into 
Kassala  Province  of  the  Sudan  will  never  become  so  important,  be¬ 
cause  the  highly  organized  plans  for  commercial  development  of 
the  Sudan  will  prevent  the  diversion  of  much  trade  into  Eritrea. 

One  more  land  trade  route  of  coming  importance  is  that  which 
goes  inland  from  Assab  to  the  Abyssinian  trading  center  of  Dessie, 
which  is  also  reached  by  the  longer  northern  route  from  Asmara  to 
Adi  Caieh  to  Macalle.  The  distance  from  Assab  to  Dessie  is  less 
than  300  miles,  and  the  route  has  been  studied  and  surveyed  in  part 
for  the  construction  of  a  railway.  An  obstacle  to  the  construction  of 
the  railroad  is  that  it  would  run  a  considerable  distance  across  the 
comparatively  unproductive  Dunkali  Desert  before  the  productive 
Abyssinian  highlands  were  reached.  However,  the  construction  of 
such  a  railroad  is  still  a  live  matter,  and  probably  depends  as  much 
upon  political  as  on  commercial  eventualities.  For  the  more  com¬ 
plete  development  of  the  commercial  possibilities  of  north  central 
Abyssinia,  upon  which  largely  depends  the  future  commercial  im¬ 
portance  of  Eritrea,  the  eventual  construction  of  this  railroad  may 
be  considered  a  necessity. 

MARITIME  IMPORT  FIGURES. 

The  colonial  Government  has  an  excellent  system  for  keeping  cus¬ 
toms  statistics,  with  the  exception  that  it  is  usually  two  years  behind 
in  the  coordination  and  publication  of  the  results  of  its  work.  The 
following  table  has  been  prepared  to  show  the  imports  by  sea  at 
Massaua,  the  gateway  to  Eritrea  and  northern  Abyssinia.  For  the 
purposes  of  a  more  accurate  comparison  of  the  imports  for  the  sev¬ 
eral  years  only  quantities  are  given. 


Articles. 

1914 

1916 

1917 

1918  a 

number. . 

3 

1 

29 

. .  .kilos. . 

35,700 

34,300 

51,000 

Coal . 

12, 117',  000 

1,281,000 

5, 487; 600 

3, 400, 000 

_ do _ 

227, 000 

457,200 

856,500 

Cotton  goods: 

Unbleached  piece  goods . 

_ do  — 

2, 108,800 

1,826,800 

1,953,800 

1,326,000 

Other  piece  goods . 

382, 600 

363,100 

379,900 

I 

Yarn . 

226, 900 

663, 700 

237,500 

I  505, 000 

Garments . 

42, 800 

4,400 

12,600 

1 

_ do _ 

533,600 

685,500 

503,800 

Flour  . 

_ do _ 

2,302,300 

1,415,300 

1,288,200 

_ do _ 

319,300 

Grains . 

32,016,600 

26,602, 100 

7,481,200 

9, 970,000 

_ do _ 

13,900 

444,400 

number. . 

3,769 

2,884 

36; 218 

Ironwork  (hardware) . 

. .  .kilos. . 

2,079,900 

581,400 

761, 700 

_ do _ 

1,114,100 

488, 160 

1,156,200 

Oil: 

Olive . 

_ do _ 

100, 400 

116,500 

56,  400 

. .  .do _ 

125, 400 

94,800 

69,500 

Other  mineral . 

580,500 

191  i  000 

132,' 400 

644,000 

. .  .do _ 

121,600 

72, 200 

150, 700 

_ do _ 

22,200 

1,370;000 

. .  .do _ 

'  253',  000 

Soap . 

. .  .do _ 

243, 600 

483, 700 

467, S00 

Spirits,  sweetened . 

. .  .liters. . 

279' 700 

98' 400 

88;300 

1,451,700 

1,098,000 

415,500 

Tobacco,  raw . 

. .  .do _ 

177,300 

137, 100 

167, 200 

_ liters. . 

1,597,300 

906, 200 

1,132,100 

Wood  and  timber . 

. .  .kilos. . 

1,982' 200 

803,800 

'543; 800 

Other  merchandise . 

...  do _ 

7' 044' 200 

6,470,700 

3,690,000 

Total  of  merchandise  measured  by  weight 

. .  .kilos . . 

65,014,200 

43,906,860 

28,250,000 

38,073,000 

*  Absence  of  figures  does  not  mean  that  there  were  no  imports  of  the  articles  specified, 
but  that  figures  could  not  be  obtained. 


52 


ERITREA !  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


The  total  value  of  imports  for  1914  is  given  in  the  published  sta¬ 
tistics  as  29,434,123  lire;  for  1916  as  21,614,504  lire;  for  1917  as 
50,089,936  lire;  and  for  1918  as  106,270,000  lire.  The  Italian  lira  has 
a  normal  exchange  value  of  $0,193  in  United  States  currency,  but 
this  exchange  value  has,  during  the  years  covered  by  the  import  sta¬ 
tistics  herein  discussed,  decreased  considerably.  This  and  the  fact 
that  commodity  values  have  also  largely  increased  makes  it  difficult 
to  obtain  accurate  comparisons  by  considering  values  alone. 

LAND  TRADE  IMPORT  FIGURES. 

The  calendar  year  1918  is  the  first  year  for  which  the  colonial  Gov¬ 
ernment  has  published  separate  figures  for  the  land  trade  of  Eritrea. 
The  figures  for  1919  have  not  yet  been  completed.  Imports  by  land 
consist  principally  of  natural  products  from  Abyssinia  and  the 
Sudan.  The  following  statement  shows  the  value  and  origin  of  the 
imports  (mainly  hides  and  skins)  over  the  more  important  land 
routes  into  Eritrea  during  1918 : 


Lire. 

Abyssinia _  22,  020,  299 

Biru  Sulianate _  86,  098 

French  Somaliland _  57,759 

Sudan  (Kassala) _  200,134 


Total _  22,  364,  290 


The  above  figures  do  not  include  the  value  of  the  considerable 
amount  of  live  stock  and  some  other  products  that  cross  the  frontier 
at  places  where  the  official  supervision  is  less  effective  than  at  the 
places  where  the  principal  trade  routes  cross.  In  order  to  encourage 
Abvssinian  trade,  no  customs  duties  are  levied  at  the  frontier. 

Of  the  total  trade  with  Abyssinia  more  than  one-third  is  via  Adi 
Caieh.  Adi  Ugri  comes  next,  with  an  amount  equal  to  about  75  per 
cent  of  that  via  Adi  Caieh.  Abyssinian  caravans  crossing  the  frontier 
in  1918  for  the  Adi  Caieh  market  numbered  352  with  a  total  of 
16,856  mules.  The  most  important  products  brought  in  by  this  route 
are  hides  and  skins,  which  in  1918  amounted  to  989.12  metric  tons. 
Oil-bearing  seeds,  with  892.95  metric  tons,  were  the  next  most  im¬ 
portant  item,  and  there  were  248  metric  tons  of  cereals.  Via  Adi 
Ugri  676.6  metric  tons  of  Abyssinian  skins  and  hides  and  27.45  tons 
of  oil-bearing  seeds  were  imported.  The  principal  import  from 
Abyssinia  via  Barentu  was  honey,  of  which  there  were  5.57  metric 
tons  during  1918. 

From  the  Sudan  (Kassala)  the  principal  imports  in  1918  were 
cereals  in  the  amount  of  222.45  metric  tons.  One  and  a  half  tons  of 
honey  came  to  Agordat  from  the  Sudan. 

The  Abyssinian  products  sent  to  Assab  consisted  mainly  of  37.39 
metric  tons  of  hides  and  48.15  tons  of  skins. 

ORIGIN  OF  ERITREAN  IMPORTS. 

The  bulk  of  the  manufactured  goods  imported  into  Eritrea  origi¬ 
nate  in  Italy,  India,  Japan,  and  the  United  States.  A  fair  share  of 
the  values  credited  to  Aden  and  India  originate  in  Japan  and  the 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


53 


United  States,  but  are  imported  via  Aden  and  India  and  are  thus 
credited  to  those  two  places.  The  following  table  compares  the 
values,  in  lire,  of  the  total  imports  by  sea,  according  to  countries  of 
shipment  in  the  years  1914,  1916,  and  1917,  detailed  figures  for  1918 
not  being  available : 


Countries. 

1914 

1916 

1917 

Aden . 

Lire. 
2,021,231 
1,626, 823 
1,940, 954 
168,276 
565,069 
486, 530 

Lire. 
256,063 
1,122, 218 

Lire. 

10, 174, 936 
4,009,678 

Arabian  Red  Sea  coast . 

Austria . 

Brazil . 

421, 984 
511,014 
50,348 
265,325 

48, 515 
1,472, 726 
36,423 
2,826,261 

Egypt . 

France . 

French  Somaliland . . . 

Germany . 

686,956 

1,454,602 

6,218,294 

13,459,512 

1,500 

Great  Britain . 

465, 409 
3,379, 210 
11,396, 755 
392, 817 
3,003,276 
259, 828 
90,257 

1,746,858 
2, 833, 863 
22, 896, 162 
1,202 
2,367,945 
910, 352 
765,015 

India . . 

Italy . 

Sudan . 

United  States . 

220,086 

584,290 

All  other  countries . 

Total . 

29, 434, 123 

21,614,504 

50, 089, 936 

The  comparatively  heavy  imports  from  Arabian  Red  Sea  ports 
consist  mainly  of  grains  for  local  consumption,  and  of  hides,  skins, 
and  coffee  for  export  from  Massaua,  which  has  shipping  connections 
superior  to  any  port  in  the  district,  except  Port  Sudan  and  Aden. 
Owing  to  the  great  increase  of  commodity  values  during  the  period 
1914  to  1917  and  to  the  falling  exchange  value  of  the  lira,  the  fore¬ 
going  table  is  more  valuable  for  purposes  of  comparison  than  for 
indicating  the  volume  of  trade  with  each  country  named. 

EXPORT  TRADE. 


The  value  of  Eritrean  export  trade  is  normally  about  one-half  as 
great  as  the  value  of  the  import  trade.  There  is  some  export,  by 
land  routes  into  Abyssinia  and  the  Sudan,  of  manufactured  goods 
imported  through  Massaua,  but  the  bulk  of  the  colony’s. export  trade 
is  made  up  of  hides,  skins,  coffee,  salt,  potash,  vegetable  ivory,  and 
other  natural  products  which  are  shipped  from  Massaua  to  foreign 
markets.  Exports  from  the  minor  port  of  Assab  are  comparatively 
small,  and  a  good  share  of  them  go  in  coasting  vessels  to  Massaua 
for  transshipment. 

The  following  table  compares  by  quantities  the  exports  from 
Massaua  for  1914,  1916,  1917,  and  i.918.  Values  are  also  given  in 
the  customs  returns,  but  owing  to  exchange  fluctuations  and  the 
abnormal  rise  in  the  values  of  commodities  for  the  period  covered, 
they  do  not  correctly  indicate  the  volume  of  the  colony’s  trade  and, 
therefore,  are  not  given. 


54 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


Articles. 

1914 

1916 

1917 

1918  « 

Beeswax . 

Kilos. 
56,600 
26, 500 
2,824,600 
387, 800 
153, 600 
219, 300 
1, 679, 400 

Kilos. 
59,300 
8,900 
2,063,900 
570, 100 
42,700 
100,900 
1,542,300 

Kilos. 
53,000 
338,800 
2, 493, 600 
409, 700 
150, 600 
500, 000 
1,747,200 

Kilos. 

Coffee . 

Dom  nuts,  raw . 

|  3,645,000 

Dom  nuts,  worked . 

Ghi . 

Hides  and  skins . 

9,355,000 

Linseed . 

181,500 

87,600 

4 

42,900,000 
468, 400 
347,300 
501.800 
642,  400 

8, 400 
496, 500 
13 

40,303  400 
512,100 
749, 400 
961,600 
926, 700 

222,000 

1,027,500 

20 

32, 176, 000 
310, 800 

382. 100 
250, 600 

837. 100 

Meat,  canned . 

Pearls . 

Salt . 

49,070,000 

Skins . 

Shells,  mother  of  pearl . 

Shells,  trocas . 

Other  merchandise . . . 

Total . 

50, 476,804 

48,346,213 

40,899,020 

70,176,000 

*  Complete  figures  for  1918  had  not  been  prepared  for  publication  by  the  Eritrean  Gov¬ 
ernment  when  this  report  was  written  and  only  figures  for  a  few  separate  items  and 
the  total  were  obtainable. 


The  total  value  of  Eritrean  exports  by  sea  for  1914  is  given  in  the 
published  statistics  as  13,113,292  lire;  for  1916  as  11,866,476  lire;  for 
1917  as  26,158,721  lire;  and  for  1918  as  79,220,000.  lire.  The  Italian 
lira  has  a  normal  exchange  value  of  $0,193  in  United  States  currency, 
but  this  exchange  value  has  during  the  period  covered  by  the  trade 
statistics  herein  discussed,  decreased  considerably.  This  and  the  fact 
that  commodity  values  have  also  largely  increased  make  it  difficult 
to  obtain  accurate  comparisons  by  considering  values  alone,  and  for 
that  reason  quantities  only  have  been  shown  in  the  foregoing  table. 

LAND  TRADE  EXPORT  FIGURES. 

Beginning  with  the  year  1918  the  colonial  Government  has  kept 
separate  statistics  of  exports  over  the  various  land  routes  into  neigh¬ 
boring  territories.  These  exports  consist  mainly  of  cotton  piece 
goods  and  yarn  (more  than  80  per  cent  of  the  total)  and  other  man¬ 
ufactures  imported  from  abroad  via  the  port  of  Massaua. 

The  following  statement  gives  the  value  and  destination  of  ex¬ 
ports  by  land  from  Eritrea  during  the  calendar  year  1918 : 


Lire. 

Abyssinia _ _ _  12,  500,  224 

Biru  Sultanate _  96,  726 

French  Somaliland _  32,  259 

Sudan  (Kassala) _  157,575 


Total _  12,786,784 


The  most  important  of  the  land  export  routes  is  that  via  Adi  Caieh 
into  Abyssinia.  Exports  by  this  route  in  1918  consisted  mainly  of 
261.3  metric  tons  of  cotton  piece  goods  and  yarn  valued  at  3,987,688 
lire,  about  37  metric  tons  of  hardware,  and  821  cases  of  alcoholic 
liquors.  During  this  year  257  caravans,  with  7,192  mules,  passed 
from  Adi  Caieh  into  Abyssinia.  Via  Adi  Ugri  into  Abyssinia  the 
exports  consisted  chiefly  of  77.77  metric  tons  of  cotton  pie  e  goods  and 
yarn  valued  at  1,731,372  lire.  Exports  to  Abyssinia  via  Assab  and 
Barentu  were  much  smaller. 


eritrea:  a  red  sea  Italian  colony. 


55 


DESTINATION  OF  EXPORTS  BY  SEA  FROM  ERITREA. 

Most  of  the  export  firms  doing  business  in  Eritrea  are  Italian,  and 
as  the  principal  foreign  shipping  connections  at  Massaua  are  by 
Italian  steamers,  it  is  natural  that  the  bulk  of  the  colony’s  exports 
should  go  to  Italy.  During  1919,  for  which  year  detailed  figures  are 
not  available,  it  is  evident  that  comparative  heavy  exports  of  hides, 
skins,  and  mother-of-pearl  shells  from  Eritrea  went  to  the  American 
market. 

The  following  table  compares  the  values  of  the  total  exports  by  sea 
to  each  country  participating  to  any  important  extent  in  Eritrean 
trade  during  1914,  1916,  and  1917 : 


Countries. 

1914 

1916 

1917 

Aden . 

Lire. 
2,334,035 
2,552,900 
270,982 
37,989 
948,334 
172, 777 
977,992 
4,952,403 
97,995 
78,877 
540,369 
148,579 

Lire. 

1,623,183 

171,301 

Lire. 
1,478, 443 
1,113,496 

Arabian  Red  Sea  coast . 

Austria . 

Egypt . 

138, 260 

2,318,950 

Germany . 

Great  Britain . . . 

556, 678 
1,289,997 
7,278,439 
207',  757 
554,202 
29,766 
16,893 

552, 538 
2,346,055 
15,707,407 
257,285 
1,182,320 
861,900 
340,327 

India . 

Italy . 

Sudan . 

United  States . 

France . 

All  other  countries . 

Total . 

13,113,292 

11,866,476 

26, 158, 721 

As  regards  the  principal  exports  of  the  colony,  Italy  leads  as  the 
destination  of  potash,  hides,  dom-palm  nuts  and  buttons,  canned 
meats,  and  mother-of-pearl  shells ;  the  United  States  leads  as  the  des¬ 
tination  of  goat  and  sheep  skins,  and  takes  a  large  share  of  the  gum 
arabic  and  mother-of-pearl  shells;  Egypt  leads  as  the  destination  of 
the  coffee  exported;  and  India  leads  as  the  destination  of  the  ex¬ 
ports  of  salt  and  pearls.  Exports  to  the  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  con¬ 
sist  mainly  of  unbleached  cotton  piece  goods,  yarn,  and  raw  tobacco. 

FACTORS  INFLUENCING  FOREIGN  TRADE. 

The  future  commercial  prosperity  of  Eritrea  depends  very  much 
upon  the  continued  development  of  the  possibilities  of  its  excellent 
location  as  a  market  through  which  the  people  of  the  potentially  rich 
districts  of  northern  Abyssinia  and  of  the  neighboring  Arabian  Red 
Sea  coast  may  do  their  trading. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  FREE  TRADE  ARE  LACKING. 

The  commercial  history  of  Aden  has  demonstrated  the  very  favor¬ 
able  influence  which  free  trade  has  on  a  market  center  depending 
for  its  commercial  prosperity  upon  entrepot  trade.  Eritrea  has  not 
free  trade,  and  Massaua  has  therefore  not  yet  obtained  as  full  benefit 
of  the  possibilities  for  a  flourishing  entrepot  trade  as  should  be  the 
case,  considering  its  strategic  location  and  the  improvements  that 
have  been  made  in  the  port  to  attract  shipping.  Customs  warehouses 
for  the  storage  of  goods  in  transit,  without  payment  of  duty,  have 


56 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


been  built  and  have  attracted  more  trade  from  the  Arabian  Red  Sea 
coast.  However,  the  facts  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  customs  red 
tape,  and  that  the  native  knows  there  is  a  tariff  which  may  or  may 
not  apply  to  his  own  trading  operations,  still  keep  many  trading- 
dhows  away  from  Massaua  and  send  them  the  greater  distance  to  the 
free  port  of  Aden,  or  to  the  port  of  Jibuti,  where  tariff  charges  are 
at  least  apparently  less. 

A  goodly  share  of  the  merchandise  imported  at  Massaua,  upon 
which  duty  is  paid,  eventually  goes  overland  to  the  Abyssinian  mar¬ 
ket  and  pays  another  duty  upon  entering  that  country.  If  entry  at 
Massaua  were  nominally  free,  merchandise  could  be  taken  into  Abys¬ 
sinia  via  that  route  and  more  favorably  compete  with  merchandise 
entering  by  the  Sudan,  French  Somaliland,  and  other  trade  routes. 
On  account  of  its  proximity  to  the  rich  districts  of  northern  Abys¬ 
sinia  and  because  of  the  facilities  afforded  for  overland  transporta¬ 
tion  of  goods,  Eritrea  will  continue  to  command  an  increasing  amount 
of  trade  with  Abyssinia;  but  there  seems  no  doubt  that  if  Massaua 
were  nominally  a  free  port  there  would  be  a  more  rapid  and  eventu¬ 
ally  a  much  greater  development  of  general  Abyssinian  and  Arabian 
coast  trade  through  the  colony. 

TARIFF  IN  FAVOR  OF  ITALIAN  GOODS. 

Another  important  factor  of  seeming  prejudice  to  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  Eritrean  foreign  trade  is  the  preferential  tariff  in  favor  of 
Italian  goods.  This  is  perhaps  a  natural  provision  on  the  part  of  the 
colonial  Government  to  favor  the  development  of  Italian  commerce, 
but  the  principle  that  competition  is  the  life  of  trade  seems  to  have 
been  overlooked.  x 

It  is  assumed  that  the  object  of  the  Government  is  to  make  Eritrea 
an  important  unit  in  the  economic  development  of  Red  Sea  commerce, 
as  the  colony  alone  has  neither  the  area  nor  the  resources  to  become  an 
important  commercial  territory  within  itself.  Aden,  Jibuti,  and  the 
Sudan,  which  are  important  factors  in  Abyssinian  trade  and  neces¬ 
sarily  rivals  of  Eritrea,  do  not  discriminate  against  goods  of  a  na¬ 
tionality  other  than  British  or  French.  The  import  duty  payable 
at  Massaua  is  1  per  cent  on  all  Italian  goods  and  8,  10,  and  15  per 
cent  on  goods  of  other  origin.  The  Abyssinian,  who  is  the  object  of  a 
good  share  of  the  trade  efforts  of  the  three  European  nations  con¬ 
cerned  in  Red  Sea  commerce,  notes  this  difference  in  methods  and  is 
likely  to  be  influenced  in  favor  of  the  two  trading  nations  which  do 
not  yet  discriminate. 

The  Eritrean  Government  derives  a  considerable  revenue  from  its 
tariff,  but  forcing  goods  of  other  than  Italian  origin  to  pay  a  higher 
duty  can  not  add  importantly  to  the  revenue,  and  it  discourages  the 
establishing  of  commercial  houses  of  other  than  Italian  nationality, 
which  would  add  greatly  to  the  commercial  development  of  the 
colony  and  incidentally  would  add  to  its  revenue  in  the  increased 
taxes  and  payments  other  than  customs  duties  that  would  be  realized. 
The  Government  is  Italian ;  the  atmosphere  and  living  customs  of  the 
colony  are  Italian ;  the  laws  of  the  colony  are  Italian ;  consumers  of 
the  colony  and  of  the  neighboring  territories  under  its  commercial 
influence  know  and  are  accustomed  to  Italian  goods;  and  as  the 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


57 


foreign  shipping  connections  of  the  colony  are  almost  exclusively 
Italian,  it  would  seem  that  Italian  trade  would  have  all  reasonable 
advantage  without  the  preferential  tariff.  There  is  also  the  psycho¬ 
logical  circumstance  that  the  efforts  made  by  Italian  firms  in  behalf 
of  Italian  goods  are  not  likely  to  be  so  keen  and  energetic  as  they 
would  be  if  these  firms  were  brought  to  realize  that  their  hold  on  the 
market  was  not  bulwarked  by  the  tariff.  The  increased  fighting 
spirit  which  would  enter  into  their  efforts  if  left  to  stand  largely  on 
their  merits  would  undoubtedly  add  materially  to  a  more  rapid  ex¬ 
tension  of  their  own  and  other  trade. 

FREE  TRADE  WOULD  HELP  MASSAUA. 

Closer  trading  relations  with  the  neighboring  Arabian  Sea  coast, 
particularly  with  the  grain  and  coffee  exporting  ports  of  Asir  Prov¬ 
ince,  are  essential  to  full  prosperity  for  Eritrean  commerce.  Trad¬ 
ers  from  this  coast  have  hides,  skins,  coffee,  grains,  senna,  and 
mother-of-pearl  shells  to  send  to  world  export  markets,  and  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  years  has  been  to  take  their  produce  to  Aden  because  there 
only  were  foreign  shipping  connections  available  with  any  reason¬ 
able  frequency.  Now  that  both  Massaua  and  Jibuti,  competitors  of 
Aden  in  the  Red  Sea  trade,  have  acquired  reasonably  frequent  for¬ 
eign  shipping  connections,  there  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  the 
diversion  of  an  important  share  of  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  trade  to 
either  Massaua  or  Jibuti,  except  that  Aden  offers  entirely  free  trade 
and  the  two  former  ports  do  not. 

Massaua  is  much  more  advantageously  located  in  the  matter  of 
distance  than  either  Aden  or  Jibuti,  which  are  some  hundreds  of 
miles  south.  An  increasing  share  of  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  trade 
is  being  diverted  to  Massaua  at  the  expense  of  Aden,  but  the  diver¬ 
sion  would  become  more  rapid  and  more  important  if  nominal  free 
trade  for  both  imports  and  exports  were  made  an  inducement. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  MASSAUA  AS  A  PORT. 

The  establishing  of  free  trade  would  necessarily  mean  an  increase 
in  the  present  very  moderate  shipping  and  other  port  dues  at  Massaua, 
to  provide  a  revenue  for  the  upkeep  of  the  prevailing  good  port 
facilities.  Fairly  heavy  port  charges  at  Aden  have  not  lessened  its 
attraction  as  a  nominally  free  port,  and  such  port  charges  provide 
entirely  for  the  upkeep  of  the  harbor  works,  upon  which  it  is  under¬ 
stood  the  Government  spends  little,  if  anything,  in  addition  to  the 
revenue  derived  from  shipping. 

Except  Port  Sudan  and  Massaua,  there  is  no  Red  Sea  or  Gulf 
of  Aden  port  at  which  ships  may  go  alongside  a  pier  or  quay.  At 
all  other  ports  ships  lie  out  in  the  harbor  and  handle  cargo  by  means 
of  lighters,  which  method  does  very  well  in  fine  weather,  but  it  is 
not  so  favorable  in  the  seasons  of  strong  winds.  When  there  are 
several  ships  in  Massaua  harbor  at  one  time  it  is  necessary  for  some 
of  them  to  lie  out  in  the  harbor  and  work  cargo  with  lighters,  but 
as  the  harbor  is  small  and  very  ivell  protected  the  blowing  of  strong 
winds  outside  does  not  materially  disturb  the  harbor  waters,  and 
ships  can  load  or  discharge  from  both  sides.  At  Aden  and  Jibuti 
the  harbors  are  well  surrounded  by  land,  but  they  are  much  larger, 


58 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


and  strong  winds  sometimes  turn  up  a  noticeably  choppy  sea,  which 
at  Jibuti  occasionally  stops  altogether  the  loading  or  discharging  of 
cargo.  At  Aden  work  can  always  proceed,  but  not  with  the  same 
facility  and  ease  at  all  times.  When  cargo  is  handled  by  Red  Sea 
port  lightering  methods  the  extra  wear  and  tear  on  the  packages  is 
an  important  consideration. 

In  the  matter  of  coal  supplies  Aden  is,  of  course,  much  superior  to 
Massaua,  although  the  latter  place  could  very  well  increase  its  sup¬ 
plies  of  coal.  Its  facilities  for  coaling  such  ships  as  call  are  prac¬ 
tically  equal  to  those  at  Aden.  In  the  matter  of  loading  salt  cargo, 
which  is  an  important  export  from  both  Aden  and  Massaua,  the 
latter  port  has  much  superior  facilities,  and  can  save  many  days  in 
loading  a  salt  cargo  by  the  use  of  an  electrically  operated  conveyor 
system  running  from  the  shore  to  the  ship.  At  Aden  ships  can  not 
approach  the  salt  works  pier  and  the  salt  has  to  be  towed  out  in 
lighters.  Salt  is  cheap  cargo  and  is  often  taken  by  ships  which 
arrive  with  a  full  cargo  to  discharge  and  must  leave  port  either  in 
ballast  or  with  a  cargo  of  salt.  Coal  ships  are  usually  in  that  class, 
and  as  Massaua  offers  plenty  of  salt  cargo  that  can  be  loaded  with 
a  saving  of  many  days  over  the  time  required  at  Aden  it  is  quite 
possible  to  build  up  coal  supplies  at  the  former  port  to  compete  with 
the  supplies  at  Aden.  Furthermore,  India  is  the  principal  salt 
market,  and  ships  by  proceeding  there  can  usually  find  a  cargo  after 
discharging  their  salt,  whereas,  if  it  were  not  for  the  salt  they  would 
often  proceed  from  Massaua,  Aden,  or  other  Red  Sea  ports  to  India 
in  ballast. 

Massaua  also  offers  a  much  more  plentiful  and  cheaper  water  sup¬ 
ply  than  is  available  at  Aden.  At  Aden  ships  pay  as  much  as  4.5 
rupees  (equal  to  about  $2  in  July,  1920)  per  100  gallons  for  distilled 
water  and  the  quantity  that  will  be  supplied  is  often  limited.  At 
Massaua  ships  can  usually  have  all  the  fresh  water  they  want  at 
less  than  10  cents  United  States  currency  per  ton.  Ice  at  Massaua 
costs  ships  500  lire  per  ton  and  at  Aden  approximately  50  per  cent 
more. 

PORT  AND  OTHER  SHIPPING  CHARGES  AT  MASSAUA. 

Harbor  dues  at  Massaua  are  only  one-tenth  of  a  lira  per  registered 
ton;  the  pilot  fee  is  25  lire;  the  quarantine  fee  is  10  lire.  Landing 
charges  collected  by  the  port  authorities  amount  to  one-fourth  of 
a  lira  per  package,  and  one-fifth  of  a  lira  per  100  kilos  is  charged  for 
wharfage.  Customs  warehouse  charges  are  one-tenth  of  a  lira  per 
package  for  any  period  up  to  one  year.  Stevedoring  charges  for 
loading  or  discharging  cargo  are  three-fifths  of  a  lira  per  100  kilos. 
Brokerage  charges  are  usually  1  per  cent.  No  special  documents  are 
required  in  connection  with  clearing  shipments,  except  invoices  that 
indicate  origin  of  goods,  value,  weights  of  packages,  and  marks. 
Customs  duties  are  given  under  the  heading  of  “  Finance  and  bank¬ 
ing  ”  in  preceding  pages  of  this  report. 

SHIPPING  CONNECTIONS. 

Massaua  and  Assab  have  regular  and  direct  steamship  connections 
with  Indian,  Egyptian,  East  African,  and  Italian  ports;  and  with 
Aden,  Jiddali,  and  Jibuti  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district.  These 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


59 


regular  services  are  all  maintained  by  Italian  steamers,  and  in  addi¬ 
tion  there  is  an  irregular  service  by  British  and  other  steamers, 
which  are  offered  sufficient  cargo  inducements  to  call  at  Massaua. 
Sailing  dhows  also  pass  frequently  during  the  seasons  when  the  wind 
is  favorable  between  Massaua,  Assab,  and  smaller  ports  and  places 
in  the  Red  Sea  district. 

The  Societa  Marittima  Italiana  is  the  Italian  mail  line  to  Eritrea, 
India,  and  Italian  East  Africa.  Every  three  weeks  there  is  a  steamer 
each  way  between  Genoa  and  Mombasa  via  Naples,  Catania,  Port 
Said,  Suez,  Massaua,  Assab,  Jibuti,  Aden,  Mogadiscio,  and  Kismavu. 
Stops  are  sometimes  made  at  smaller  places  on  the  coast  of  Italian 
Somaliland  and  Italian  East  Africa.  Every  three  weeks  there  is  also 
a  steamer  by  this  line  each  way  between  Genoa  and  Bombay,  calling 
at  intermediate  ports.  With  one  or  two  exceptions,  all  of  the  steam¬ 
ers  of  this  line  carry  passengers  and  mail  as  well  as  cargo. 

The  Societa  Marittima  Eritrea  (a  subsidiary  of  the  above  com¬ 
pany)  operates  a  10-day  service  between  Massaua,  Jiddali,  and  Suez, 
calling  sometirqes  at  Port  Sudan.  These  steamers  are  small  and  are 
used  only  in  the  coasting  trade.  They  carry  passengers,  mails,  and 
cargo. 

The  Societa  Veneziana  di  Navigazioni  has  at  present  about  one 
cargo  steamer  per  month  from  Genoa  to  India  via  Massaua,  Aden, 
and  other  intermediate  ports. 

The  Lloyd  Triestino  is  inaugurating  a  service  from  Trieste  via 
Massaua  and  Aden  to  Bombay  and  the  Far  East.  This  company  is 
using  the  steamers  of  the  former  Austrian  Lloyd  and  covers  practi¬ 
cally  the  same  shipping  routes.  There  are  at  present  two  steamers 
per  month  each  way,  one  to  and  from  India  and  one  to  and  from  the 
Far  East.  Passengers  and  cargo  are  carried. 

Freight  rates  are  complicated  by  the  exchange  situation,  the  rates 
being  quoted  in  lire,  with  a  substantial  percentage,  which  varies, 
added  for  loss  by  exchange.  At  the  present  time  the  rate  from  Mas¬ 
saua  to  Genoa,  or  vice  versa,  is  about  $20  per  cubic  meter  (35.3  cubic 
feet).  It  is  expected  that  this  rate  will  work  out  to  a  lower  amount 
in  United  States  currency  when  the  exchange  situation  becomes  more 
nearly  normal.  Passenger  rates  and  extra  charges  on  all  these  lines, 
and  particularly  on  the  Marittima  Italiana,  are  understood  to  be 
higher  than  on  shipping  lines  of  other  nationality  running  from 
Europe  to  Eastern  ports. 

Cargo  from  the  United  States  destined  for  Massaua  may  be  trans¬ 
shipped  at  Genoa  or  other  Italian  ports,  or  may  be  routed  via  Bom¬ 
bay  or  Aden,  according  to  shipping  opportunities  offered  at  New 
York.  There  is  occasionally  a  direct  steamer  or  sailing  vessel  from 
New  York  to  Massaua  and  other  Red  Sea  ports.  Shipping  facilities 
are  reasonably  favorable  for  the  development  of  American-Eritrean 
trade. 


EFFECT  OF  WAR  ON  ERITREAN  COMMERCE. 

The  war  has  had  an  important  and  in  general  a  favorable  effect 
upon  Eritrean  commerce. 

The  growth  of  the  meat-packing  industry,  which  promises  to  be 
the  most  important  in  the  colony,  is  due  largely  to  conditions  grow- 


60 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


ing  out  of  the  war,  which  made  it  possible  and  profitable  for  the  Ital¬ 
ian  Government  to  encourage  development  of  this  source  of  supply 
for  canned  meats  to  feed  its  army. 

The  potash  deposits  of  the  Societa  Mineraria  Coloniale  Italiana 
gained  a  direct  and  important  prosperity  from  the  world  need  for 
potash  after  the  cutting  off  of  German  supplies.  Considerable  quan¬ 
tities  of  potash  from  the  Eritrean  industry  were  shipped  to  Italy, 
France,  and  England  for  use  in  making  munitions  of  war.  Very 
good  prices  were  realized  and  the  profits  of  the  company  were  such 
as  to  place  it  upon  a  sound  basis. 

The  stopping  of  supplies  of  the  Austrian  Maria  Theresa  trade 
dollar,  minted  at  Trieste,  which  has  been  an  important  asset  to  Aus¬ 
trian  trade  throughout  the  Red  Sea  district,  has  offered  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  the  substitution  of  the  Italian  trade  dollar  discussed  in  de¬ 
tail  in  foregoing  pages  of  this  report,  which  should  be  a  decidedly 
favorable  factor  in  strengthening  Italian  political  and  economic 
prestige  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district. 

War  prices  for  hides  and  skins,  the  principal  export  of  the  colony, 
have  given  noticeable  prosperity  to  both  the  European  firms  engaged 
in  the  export  business  and  to  the  native  producers  and  traders  who 
bring  hides  and  skins  to  the  market. 

Trade  with  the  neighboring  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  was  interfered 
with  by  the  blockade  restrictions,  which  made  it  difficult  for  Arab 
traders  to  maintain  trade  connections  with  Massaua. 

Owing  also  to  blockade  restrictions,  the  working  of  the  pearl-shell 
beds  was  largely  suspended  and  the  important  mother-of-pearl  trade 
of  Massaua  was  thus  interfered  with.  However,  the  pearl  banks 
have  received  a  needed  rest  and  should  now  yield  greater  and  better 
supplies  than  before  the  war. 

The  threat  of  German-inspired  hostilities  from  the  Abyssinians 
and  an  invasion  by  them  of  Eritrean  territory  caused  the  extension 
and  more  rapid  completion  or  improvement  of  roads  south  to  the 
Abyssinian  frontier,  which  were  for  the  quicker  moving  of  military 
forces  in  case  of  invasion,  but  which  will  now  be  of  very  great  value 
to  the  developing  of  Eritrean  trade  with  northern  Abyssinia. 

The  war  has  resulted  in  the  acquisition  by  the  Italians  of  the  ship¬ 
ping  business  and  ships  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd,  which  operated  from 
Trieste,  and  under  Italian  management  the  fine  steamers  of  the 
Indian  and  Eastern  lines  of  the  old  Austrian  company  are  making 
Massaua  a  regular  port  of  call,  thus  giving  that  port  better  shipping 
facilities  than  it  has  ever  had  or  might  have  expected  in  the  imme¬ 
diate  future.  Incidentally  these  facilities  have  further  advertised 
Eritrea  and  its  commercial  possibilities,  which  were  not  generally 
appreciated  even  in  the  mother  country. 

Japanese  cotton  piece  goods  have  obtained  a  footing  in  the  Eritrean 
market  mainly  because  war  conditions  prevented  the  supplying  of 
the  market  from  Italy  and  Austria.  There  has  been  a  considerable 
increase  in  the  prices  of  cotton  piece  goods,  hardware,  kerosene,  and 
other  staple  articles  of  import,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  enhanced 
value  of  Eritrean  exports  has  more  than  offset  the  increased  cost  of 
imported  manufactured  goods,  at  least  so  far  as  concerns  the  native 
population  of  the  colony,  which  is  99  per  cent  of  the  total. 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


61 


Considering  the  foregoing  and  other  lesser  effects  of  the  war,  it  is 
thought  that  Eritrean  commercial  development  has  benefited  sub¬ 
stantially  from  the  war.  Comparatively,  Massaua  enjoyed  better 
shipping  facilities  during  the  later  years  of  the  war  than  did  either 
Jibuti  or  Aden,  as  the  Italian  shipping  companies  running  through 
the  Red  Sea  suffered  less  damage  and  disorganization  in  proportion 
than  did  the  British  and  French  lines  serving  Aden  and  Jibuti. 

SUPERIOR  INLAND  TRANSPORT  FACILITIES. 

The  development  of  roads  and  caravan  routes  throughout  Eritrea 
is  superior  to  that  in  any  other  political  division  in  the  Red  Sea 
commercial  district,  and  the  advantages  thus  offered  to  trade  devel¬ 
opment  are  obvious.  These  interior  trade  routes  are  also  safe  and 
trade  is  free  from  molestation  by  unfriendly  or  grasping  natives. 

IMPORTANT  INFLUENCE  ON  ABYSSINIAN  TRADE. 

The  American  or  other  foreign  manufacturer  or  exporter  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  potentially  rich  Abyssinian  market  should  consider  the 
advantages  offered  by  well-organized  and  established  Eritrean  trade 
routes  tapping  northern  Abyssinia,  which  is  one  of  the  most  promis¬ 
ing  trade  districts  of  that  African  Kingdom.  Eritrea  is  the  natural 
outlet  for  this  district,  and  the  colonial  Government,  realizing  that 
fact,  is  offering  inducements  to  trade  by  extending  roads  to  the  fron¬ 
tier  which  connect  directly  with  the  port  of  Massaua  via  Asmara. 

The  opportunity  for  carrying  these  trade  roads  into  Abyssinia 
also  has  the  attention  of  the  Abyssinian  Government,  and  their  ex¬ 
tension  deep  into  that  country  is  but  a  matter  of  time.  The  only 
other  practical  way  of  opening  up  northern  Abyssinia  is  from  the 
Sudan,  and  the  present  disadvantages  in  that  direction  are  much 
greater  than  they  are  via  Eritrea.  Furthermore,  the  Sudan  Govern¬ 
ment  is  concentrating  more  or  less  on  its  trade  route  via  the  Sobat 
River  into  western  and  southern  Abyssinia. 

The  northern  districts  of  Abyssinia,  falling  within  the  Eritrean 
sphere  of  commercial  influence,  are  well  populated  by  an  intelligent 
Christian  people,  who  will  be  good  customers  for  manufactured 
goods  and  who  will  be  able  to  pay  for  what  they  want  by  reason  of 
the  great  productivity  of  their  lands  and  forests. 

ACCESSIBILITY  OF  ERITREAN  MARKET. 

Another  important  matter  for  consideration  by  the  foreign  trader 
seeking  new  markets  is  the  comparatively  easy  access  to  the  Eritrean 
market.  It  is  highly  probable  that  many  firms  interested  in  foreign 
trade  would  not  offhand  be  able  exactly  to  locate  Eritrea,  yet  it  lies 
on  the  African  side  of  the  Red  Sea,  with  an  excellent  port,  less  than 
a  hundred  miles  off  the  great  shipping  route  from  Europe  to  the  Far 
East,  India,  and  East  Africa.  Some  of  the  ships  using  this  route 
can  and  will  call  at  Massaua  if  inducements  are  offered,  and  it  is 
possible  to  offer  inducements. 

Even  to  those  who  can  tell  you  offhand  the  geographical  location 
of  Eritrea,  the  colony  appears  as  a  comparatively  small  territory  on 


62 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


a  coast,  that  is  outwardly  unproductive  and  in  a  part  of  the  world 
where  important  economic  development  is  not  to  be  expected.  Yet 
Eritrea  has  a  promising  economic  development  and  shows  more  of 
the  effects  of  modern  civilization  than  do  many  territories  much 
closer  and  not  more  difficult  of  access  from  world  trading  centers. 
When  Eritrea  is  considered  as  the  distributing  center  for  an  annu¬ 
ally  increasing  commerce  with  some  millions  of  people  in  northern 
Abyssinia  and  on  the  neighboring  Arabian  coast  it  will  receive  much 
more  serious  attention  from  the  i'oreign  trader. 

CLOSE  RELATIONS  WITH  EGYPT. 

The  port  of  Massaua  is  less  than  900  miles  from  Suez  and  has  regu¬ 
lar  steamship  connections  with  Egyptian  ports.  An  important  ele¬ 
ment  in  the  so-called  Levantine  population  of  Egypt  is  of  Italian 
extraction,  and  these  people  are  active  in  commerce.  Because  of  their 
Italian  origin  they  are  interested  in  the  development  of  the  Italian 
colony  of  Eritrea,  and  their  interest  is  well  received  in  the  colony. 
As  the  Levantine  is  a  decidedly  able  trader,  the  advantage  of  racial 
and  cultural  relationship  has  enabled  him  to  share  importantly  in 
Eritrean  trade  and  his  share  will  increase.  After  the  Italian,  the 
Egyptian  has  apparently  some  advantage  over  other  foreign  traders 
in  Eritrean  commercial  development. 

Next  to  the  Italian  and  the  Italo-Egyptian  the  American  has  the 
best  opportunity  to  participate  in  Eritrean  commerce,  because  the 
Italian  feels  that  there  is  less  trade  rivalry  with  United  States  ex¬ 
porters  than  with  European  competitors  in  the  Red  Sea  trade. 

BEST  METHOD  OF  ENTERING  MARKET. 

The  American  manufacturer  or  exporter  can  best  enter  the  Eritrean 
market  by  establishing  his  own  representatives  in  Massaua  and  As¬ 
mara.  There  are  no  important  exporting  or  importing  firms  in  the 
colony  except  those  actually  of  Italian  nationality  or  claiming  it, 
and  American  trade  interests  in  the  hands  of  such  firms  would 
naturally  not  be  given  as  much  attention  as  desired.  American  firms 
would,  however,  be  well  received  in  Eritrea,  because  it  is  realzed 
by  the  commercial  community  there,  particularly  that  part  interested 
in  export,  that  the  trade  of  the  colony  needs  the  stimulus  of  inter¬ 
national  competition.  The  Eritrean  market  can,  of  course,  be  studied 
and  worked  to  a  certain  extent  from  Aden,  where  there  would  be 
greater  inducements  for  the  establishing  of  American  firms,  because 
much  greater  territory  can  be  covered  from  that  center  of  Red  Sea 
commerce.  To  have  the  best  chances  of  success  an  American  firm 
entering  the  Eritrean  market  should  be  prepared  to  handle  both 
export  and  import  trade.  This  would  give  the  firm  an  opportunity 
for  double  profit,  one  on  each  branch  of  its  trade. 

The  American  firm  should  be  prepared  to  enter  actively  into  the 
trade  of  northern  Abyssinia,  which  requires  pioneer  work,  and  to 
trade  with  the  neighboring  Arabian  Red  Sea  coast.  Jubuti  at 
present  commands  the  largest  direct  share  of  Abyssinian  foreign 
trade,  which  is  that  developed  in  the  eastern  and  south-central  parts 
of  the  country,  but  command  of  the  foreign  trade  of  the  richer  north- 


ERITREA!  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


G3 


ern  Abyssinian  districts,  yet  undeveloped,  lies  with  Massaua.  A 
railroad  500  miles  long  from  Massaua  into  northern  Abyssinia,  say 
in  the  direction  of  the  Gondar  and  Lake  Tsana  district,  would  be 
of  very  much  greater  importance  commercially  than  the  already 
constructed  Franco-Ethiopian  railroad  500  miles  long  from  Jibuti 
to  Adis  Abeba,  which  runs  for  almost  half  of  its  length  through 
desert  or  semidesert  and  nonproductive  country.  A  Massaua-Gondar 
railroad  will  run  through  commercially  productive  country  almost 
its  entire  length,  and  as  such  will  have  most  promising  traffic  possi¬ 
bilities. 

PACKING  OF  GOODS  FOR  ERITREAN  MARKET. 

Ships  arriving  at  Massaua  land  their  cargoes  either  directly  on  the 
quay  alongside  the  railroad,  or  into  lighters  by  which  they  are  con¬ 
veyed  a  short  distance  to  the  customs  quay.  From  Massaua  they  go 
inland  by  railroad  to  Asmara,  and  from  the  latter  place  they  go 
either  in  wheeled  vehicles  or  on  the  backs  of  animals  to  interior  trad¬ 
ing  centers.  Packages  weighing  20,  50,  or  100  kilos  (a  kilo  is  2.2046 
"pounds)  are  much  preferred,  as  the  average  mule  can  carry  four 
20-kilo  packages,  and  a  good  camel  two  100-kilo  packages.  Even- 
weight  packages,  and  an  equal  number  for  each  side  of  the  mule  or 
camel  packsaddle,  are  a  great  convenience  in  the  loading  and  mov¬ 
ing  of  goods  over  inland  trails  by  caravan.  Boxes  or  bales  oblong 
in  shape  are  more  easily  handled  in  caravan  transportation. 

Goods  that  are  placed  in  large  packages  for  ocean  shipment  should 
be  packed  so  that  they  may  easily  be  divided  into  units  of  the  weights 
above  indicated  without  exposing  the  contents  to  soiling  or  other 
damage  in  making  the  division. 

Boxes  should  be  made  strong,  but  not  too  heavy,  because  the  extra 
weight  is  costly  to  transport  by  caravan.  When  the  character  of  the 
merchandise  permits,  well-protected  bales  are  preferred,  as  bales  are 
much  more  easily  handled  and  carried.  Heavy  jute  cloth  is  the  best 
wrapping  for  bales,  and  it  should  be  held  on  with  strap  iron.  Boxes 
should  also  be  protected  with  strap  iron.  If  possible,  the  contents  of 
boxes  or  bales  should  be  protected  with  some  reasonably  damp-proof 
oil-paper  or  cloth  wrapping. 

For  inside  packing,  tin  containers,  depending,  of  course,  upon  the 
commodity,  are  desirable  both  for  the  protection  given  and  for  the 
use  to  which  the  native  places  such  containers  when  empty.  Pic¬ 
tures  illustrating  the  nature  and  use  of  the  contents  of  small  packages 
of  goods  are  preferred  to  printed  descriptions  or  announcements 
which  the  native  consumer  can  not  read.  He  can  understand  pic¬ 
tures  and  they  please  him. 

Goods  landed  at  Massaua  are  at  times  exposed  to  great  heat  and  dry¬ 
ness.  During  the  summer  months  on  the  plateau  there  is  heavy  rain¬ 
fall  with  lighter  rains  in  the  spring  and  fall.  Goods  should  therefore 
be  protected  from  the  water  and  packed  so  that  days  of  exposure  to 
hot  sun  will  do  the  least  damage. 

American  goods  arriving  in  the  Red  Sea  district  are  generally  satis¬ 
factory  in  packing.  The  only ’complaints  against  defective  packing 
on  file  in  the  Aden  consulate  refer  to  some  bottled  catsups  and  similar 
foodstuffs  that  had  not  stood  the  journey  well  and  in  some  cases 


64 


ERITREA*.  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


showed  a  loss  by  breakage  of  75  per  cent.  American  cotton  piece 
goods  generally  make  the  long  journey  to  the  Red  Sea  in  very  good 
condition. 


MARKING  AND  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 

Packages  should  be  well  and  plainly  marked  with  the  address  and 
with  the  weight  and  origin  of  the  goods.  Numbers  are  very  useful 
for  the  identification  of  packages  by  the  native  stevedores,  customs 
employees,  caravan  followers,  etc.,  who  usually  are  unable  to  read. 
The  metric  system  is  used  exclusively  in  Eritrea  and  all  weights  and 
measures  should  be  so  expressed.  English  measures  of  pounds, 
inches,  etc.,  mean  very  little  to  Eritrean  traders.  They  use  also  the 
Abyssinian  farasula  of  37^  pounds  and  the  Egyptian  kantar  of  99 
pounds. 


CUSTOMS  REQUIREMENTS  AND  DUTIES. 

Customs  requirements  at  Massaua  are  simple.  The  only  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary  document  for  the  customs  is  the  invoice  giving  the 
value,  description,  and  origin  of  the  goods  imported. 

The  Eritrean  customs  service  is  well  organized  along  Italian  lines, 
and  importers  and  exporters  are  given  all  possible  facilities.  There 
are  customs  brokers  regularly  engaged  in  the  business  at  Massaua 
who  may  be  employed  to  clear  shipments  through  the  customs.  All 
duties,  both  import  and  export,  are  ad  valorem.  The  import  duty 
on  kerosene  and  gasoline  is  15  per  cent,  on  cotton  piece  goods  and 
automobiles  it  is  10  per  cent,  and  on  all  other  goods  (excepting  6  per 
cent  on  certain  grains),  the  duty  is  8  per  cent.  These  duties  apply 
only  to  goods  of  foreign  origin.  Italian  goods  pay  only  1  per  cent 
duty.  All  exports,  whether  to  Italy  or  other  countries,  pay  an  ex¬ 
port  duty  of  1  per  cent.  Products  entering  by  land  from  Abyssinia 
are  free  from  Eritrean  duty,  as  are  goods  exported  by  land  into 
Abyssinia  from  Eritrea.  The  1  per  cent  duty  on  exports  is  desig¬ 
nated  a  statistical  tax,  and  it  is  also  levied  on  all  imports,  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  regular  duty,  except  on  kerosense,  raw  cotton,  cereals, 
and  hides  and  skins. 

Customs  statistics  are  published  for  calendar  years,  but  are  usually 
two  years  late,  owing  to  the  lack  of  an  adequate  clerical  force  and 
the  lack  of  rapid  printing  facilities.  Both  quantities  and  values  are 
given  in  the  published  customs  statistics. 

PRICES  QUOTED  IN  LIRE. 

As  Italian  currency  is  used  in  Eritrea,  price  quotations  in  lire  are 
preferred.  Both  sterling  and  rupee  quotations  are  understood,  but 
there  has  been  little  practice  in  figurine  dollar  quotations,  and  it  is 
not  desirable  to  quote  dollar  prices.  Quotations  f.  o.  b.  American 
port  of  shipment  would  not  be  accepted,  but  as  quotations  for  de¬ 
livery  in  Massaua  are  usually  not  practicable,  they  may  be  made 
c.  i.  f.  an  Italian  port,  Bombay,  or*Aden,  from  which  places  the 
Eritrean  importer  can  calculate  without  difficulty  the  further  cost 
of  delivery. 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY, 


65 


COMMERCIAL  CREDITS  AND  ADVERTISING. 

Credit  practice  in  Eritrea  varies  with  local  conditions,  blit  in  the 
case  of  well-established  firms  it  is  not  attended  with  much  risk. 
The  leading  firms  in  the  colony  are  substantial  and  in  a  position  to 
discount  bills.  The  European  practice  of  long  credits  may,  however, 
be  said  to  prevail,  although  as  might  be  expected  in  a  country  just 
developing  foreign  trade  there  is  no  definitely  established  practice. 
Many  of  the  leading  firms,  which  are  engaged  in  both  the  import 
and  export  business,  make  shipments  of  Eritrean  produce  (hides  and 
skins,  etc.)  against  their  purchases  abroad.  This  is  particularly  the 
practice  since  exchange  rates  have  been  so  unstable.  Credits  can  al¬ 
ways  be  arranged  through  the  Banca  d’ltalia  or  the  Banca  Italiana 
di  Sconto,  both  of  which  are  represented  in  Eritrea  and  have  cor¬ 
respondents  in  New  York. 

No  newspapers  are  published  in  the  colon}^  and  advertising  is  un¬ 
developed.  Certain  Italian  newspapers  and  journals,  and  one  or  two 
Egyptian  newspapers  that  are  published  in  Italian  or  French,  cir¬ 
culate  among  the  European  population.  Signs  or  placards  carrying 
out  the  main  idea  of  pictorial  advertising  should  be  sent  for  the  use 
of  merchants.  This  is  at  present  the  only  established  method  of 
advertising  in  Eritrea. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  GOODS. 

Methods  of  distribution  of  imported  goods  and  the  collection  of 
produce  for  export  are  closely  related  in  Eritrea,  as  is  generally  the 
case  throughout  this  Bed  Sea  district.  The  large  importing  and  ex¬ 
porting  firms  at  Massaua  and  Asmara  have  their  own  agents  or  in¬ 
dependent  representatives  in  the  outlying  trade  centers,  to  whom 
goods  are  consigned  from  the  distributing  depots  in  Asmara.  These 
agents  or  representatives  in  turn  sell  to  the  natives  wTho  come  to  the 
settlements  on  market  days  with  products  to  exchange  for  cotton 
piece  goods,  hardware,  and  other  imported  manufactures  that  their 
simple  methods  of  living  may  require. 

When  money  is  scare  there  is  actual  barter,  but  the  practice  of 
barter  is  gradually  disappearing.  The  currency  of  the  country  is 
supplemented  by  trade  dollars  as  a  medium  of  exchange.  The 
ultimate  consumer,  who  is  the  native  living  some  distance  from  the 
trading  centers,  seldom  gets  credit,  but  pays  cash  when  he  buys, 
and  this  simplifies  business  to  a  considerable  extent.  It  also  en¬ 
courages  the  native  to  bring  in  his  products  promptly,  and  the  fact 
that  he  must  have  something  to  sell  each  time  he  comes  to  market 
in  order  to  pay  for  what  he  buys  probably  encourages  greater  pro¬ 
duction  than  would  result  under  an  easier  system. 

The  large  importer  established  only  in  Massaua  or  Asmara  usually 
does  business  on  a  cash  basis  with  the  independent  retailer  in  the 
outlying  trade  centers,  although  there  is  no  special  reason  why 
credit  could  not  be  granted  in  the  majority  of  cases.  The  distributor 
to  the  ultimate  consumer,  unless  he  be  the  direct  representative  of 
the  importing  house,  patronizes  the  importer  who  will  buy  the  native 
products  which  he  brings  in  from  the  outlying  trade  centers.  Dis¬ 
tributors  of  imported  goods  in  Eritrea  are  usually  collectors  of  local 
produce  for.  export,  and  the  two  are  so  closely  related  that  a  firm 


66 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY. 


establishing  itself  in  the  market  should  be  prepared  to  buy  as  well 
as  to  sell.  Such  practice  not  only  enlarges  the  scope  of  the  firm’s 
distributing  business  but  incidentally  permits  a  double  profit  on  one 
turnover  of  its  capital. 

CONCLUSION. 

Excepting  the  preferential  tariff,  Eritrea  offers  at  least  as  favor¬ 
able  facilities  for  entrepot  trade  development  as  does  any  other 
political  division  in  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district.  The  territory 
and  population  of  the  colony  itself  are  comparatively  small ;  but  the 
districts  of  northern  Abyssinia  and  the  ports  of  the  neighboring 
Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  under  its  trade  influence  have  a  population  of 
approximately  5,000,000  people,  who  are  coming  to  depend  more  and 
more  upon  Eritrean  trade  facilities  for  the  marketing  of  their 
products  and  for  the  supplying  of  the  manufactured  goods  required 
from  foreign  centers  of  production. 

Eritrea  is  the  only  practical  commercial  outlet  or  inlet  for  districts 
of  northern  Abyssinia,  which  are  among  the  richest  in  the  whole 
of  that  country.  Some  of  the  more  productive  districts  of  the 
Arabian  Red  Sea  coast  are  closer  to  Massaua  than  to  any  other  port 
and  trading  center  with  foreign  shipping  connections,  and  they 
can  be  much  more  conveniently  reached  from  Massaua  than  from 
Aden  qr  Jibuti,  with  which  two  ports  Massaua  will  compete  strongly 
for  Red  Sea  commerce.  Massaua  was  a  gathering  place  for  Arab 
traders  for  centuries  before  its  development  into  a  modern  com¬ 
mercial  port  by  Italian  enterprise. 

Eritrea  is  the  center  of  such  limited  development  of  manufactur¬ 
ing  industry  as  there  is  in  the  entire  Red  Sea  district,  and  may  well 
be  considered  the  center  from  which  influences  tending  to  manu¬ 
facturing  development  will  reach  to  other  parts  of  the  district. 

Eritrea  is  also  the  center  of  the  development  of  interior  transporta¬ 
tion  facilities,  having  more  made  roads  suitable  for  wheeled  traffic 
than  all  the  remainder  of  the  district. 

Eritrea  is  entirely  under  the  control  of  a  European  nation  which 
administers  laws,  regulations,  etc.,  according  to  modern  ideas,  and 
is  developing  trading  facilities  along  lines  such  as  will  insure  to  the 
colony  and  to  the  trading  firms  located  there  a  substantial  share  in 
the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  Red  Sea  district,  particularly  of 
Abyssinia. 

Massaua  offers  superior  shipping  facilities  in  the  way  of  a  well- 
protected  harbor;  a  quay  alongside  which  ships  may  go  and  use 
modern  equipment  for  handling  cargo;  low  port  dues,  and  a  good 
supply  of  cheap  water.  Only  in  the  matter  of  coal  supplies  does  it 
come  second  to  any  other  Red  Sea  port,  and  that  feature  is  one  in 
which  it  may  without  great  difficulty  come  to  equal  its  rival  ports 
for  Red  Sea  trade.. 

The  near  approach  of  the  temperate  highlands  to  the  coast  affords 
to  merchants  and  other  European  residents  of  the  port  of  Massaua 
a  close  and  easily  accessible  refuge  from  the  oppressive  heat  of  the 
coastal  plains.  No  other  Red  Sea  or  Gulf  of  Aden  port  affords  that 
important  advantage. 

This  same  closeness  of  the  productive  interior  highlands  eliminates 
the  long  haul  across  Unproductive  desert  territory  for  products  to  be 
exported  or  imported,  which  at  other  ports  in  the  commercial  district 


ERITREA:  A  RED  SEA  ITALIAN  COLONY.  67 

is  a  distinct  disadvantage  to  trade  development  of  the  interior  dis¬ 
tricts  back  from  the  desert  or  semidesert  coastal  plains. 

The  Eritrean  market  supplies  hides,  skins,  mother-of-pearl  shells, 
beeswax,  and  other  raw  products  in  demand  for  American  industries ; 
and  among  its  leading  imports  are  cotton  piece  goods,  general  hard¬ 
ware,  and  kerosene,  three  American  products  which  are  known  and 
established  throughout  the  Red  Sea  commercial  district.  In  the 
matter  of  import  and  export  commodities  the  Eritrean  market  has, 
therefore,  the  advantage  for  American  commerce  that  it  may  be 
grouped  with  the  several  political  divisions  which  make  up  the  com¬ 
mercial  district  dominated  from  Aden,  where  American  commerce 
is  exceeded  in  importance  by  that  of  only  one  other  trading  country. 

The  establishing  of  trade  connections  in  Eritrea  will  yield  annu¬ 
ally  increasing  returns,  because  trade  there  is  in  its  infancy  and 
competition  has  not  yet  become  highly  developed.  Very  few  parts 
of  the  world  offer  this  attractive  feature  to  American  commerce,  as 
European  and  other  trade  interests  will  be  found  already  established 
and  in  strong  competition  in  practically  all  worth-while  markets, 
some  of  which  do  not  offer  the  trade  potentialities  of  the  Red  Sea 
commercial  district. 

American  piece  goods,  hardware,  and  kerosene  have  been  sold  for 
some  years  in  the  Eritrean  market,  and  there  have  recently  been  in¬ 
troduced  such  minor  lines  as  canned  fruits,  soap,  playing  cards,  gar¬ 
ters,  macaroni,  etc.-  During  the  month  of  December.  1919,  almost  an 
entire  steamer  load  of  railroad  iron,  fencing  wire,  pumping  ma¬ 
chinery,  and  general  hardware,  arrived  at  Massaua  direct  from  New 
York.  The  completion  of  the  railroad  from  Asmara  to  Keren,  a 
distance  of  about  65  miles,  has  been  held  up  pending  the  arrival  of 
steel  rails  from  the  United  States,  and  the  equipment  of  other  rail¬ 
roads  planned  may  very  well  be  American  if  United  States  firms  be¬ 
come  interested  in  the  market.  The  American  goods  at  present  in 
the  Eritrean  market  practically  all  owe  their  introduction  to  foreign 
firms. 

With  the  close  commercial  connections  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  Italy,  the  extension  of  American  commercial  interests  to 
the  colony  of  Eritrea  would  not  be  difficult  and  would  have  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  shipping  and  banking  connections  already  established 
with  the  mother  country.  Or  if  it  were  desired  to  enter  the  market 
via  Bombay  or  Aden  it  may  be  said  that  American  traders  are  also 
familiar  with  these  routes  and  have  established  connections.  It  is 
only  the  market  that  is  new,  and  not  the  methods  or  means  of  ap¬ 
proaching  and  entering  it.  As  may  be  said  of  all  other  new  commer¬ 
cial  territories,  there  are  in  Eritrea  some  special  features  to  be  con¬ 
sidered,  not  the  least  of  which  would  be  the  pioneering  nature  of 
the  initial  steps  in  trade  ventures,  but  any  special  consideration  or 
treatment  required  would  seem  to  be  justified  by  the  opportunity  to 
enter  a  practically  undeveloped  commercial  field  where  circumstances 
are  favorable  to  the  founding  of  a  permanently  substantial  business. 

[Lists  of  importers  who  distribute  to  the  Eritrean  market  have  been  pre¬ 
pared  for  Massaua  and  Asmara  and  may  be  had  upon  application  to  the  Bureau 
of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  or  its  district  and  cooperative  offices.  Re¬ 
fer  to  file  NE-13000.] 


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